FILIPINOS from several Middle East countries are set to safely return home to the Philippines in the coming days, Malacañang announced on Monday (New York time).
In a media interview in New York, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) arranged chartered flights for Filipinos seeking repatriation to the Philippines.
“Today, 16 OFWs from Tel Aviv (Israel) traveled by land to the southern Israel town of Eilat, which borders Egypt via the Taba border crossing. These 16 OFWs cross the Egyptian border and will take the Cairo to Muscat to Manila flight with ETA Manila on March 11, 9:30 pm, Philippine time,” Castro said.
“We have 20 OFWs (from Dubai) with 9 OFW dependents who travel from Dubai to Oman via the Khatmat-Malaha border crossing in northern Oman. Upon crossing the Omani border, they go to Muscat and take the Muscat to Manila flight with ETA Manila on March 10, 9:30 pm Philippine time,” she added.
In the United Arab Emirates, the Philippine government also booked commercial flights for overseas Filipino workers and their dependents coming from Dubai via Emirates Airlines.
In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the DMW is arranging flights for Filipino repatriates with the earliest departure on March 14, 2026.
This repatriation operation will be funded through the Emergency Repatriation Fund of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, an attached agency of the DMW.
More than 400 Filipinos have returned to the Philippines since the conflict in the Middle East began.
Castro said the government is prioritizing the safety of Filipinos overseas amid ongoing tensions in the region
