By Alec Go
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday, said that more than 300 Filipinos were safely evacuated from war-torn Sudan to Egypt and Greece in the past 12 hours.
A total of 340 Filipinos from Khartoum were received by the Philippine authorities at the Argeen border after they were cleared for entry by Egyptian authorities on Friday morning.
The DFA said the influx of evacuees caused delays in the processing at the Egyptian border.
Eight other Filipinos were also evacuated to Greece through a Greek military aircraft. They will be brought back home through the next available flight to Manila.
Meanwhile, 58 Filipinos are still in Port Sudan pending the arrival of the ship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while 16 have already been received by the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.
To date, 496 Filipinos have already left Khartoum.
“DFA teams in Athens, Jeddah, and at the Egypt-Sudan border have been assisting Filipinos from Khartoum and are making arrangements for their repatriation via the next available flights,” the DFA said.
“Coordination with the governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Greece on the safe passage of Filipino evacuees is continuing through the respective Philippine Embassies,” it added.
Earlier this week, evacuation began after the DFA raised the status in Sudan to Alert Level 3 (Voluntary Repatriation/Evacuation) due to the current political conflict in the African country.
Those who need assistance for repatriation may contact the Philippine Embassy in Cairo via WhatsApp or mobile at (+20) 122 743 6472, Facebook Messenger at PHinEgypt, or through cairo.pe@dfa.gov.ph. – cf