Filipino workers and their children from conflict-stricken Ethiopia are safely returning back to the Philippines.
Seventeen Filipinos, including five children and an infant, were able to fly from Addis Ababa via a commercial flight, EgyptAir, to Cairo International airport Saturday, Philippine Ambassador to Egypt Ezzedin Tago said.
From Cairo, the Pinoy repatriates took the Gulf Air flight for Cairo-Manama-Manila route. They are expected to arrive Sunday (December 12).
They are the first batch of Filipino repatriates who were evacuated safely from Ethiopia since the Philippine government ordered the mandatory evacuation of around 800 Filipinos there last November 11.
The Philippine Embassy in Egypt facilitated the repatriation since there is no Philippine Embassy in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopian government forces and their neighboring ally Eritrea have been fighting against the Tigrayan rebels for just one a year. The civil unrest has killed roughly 300,000, with multiple reports of sexual violence and other atrocities committed by all sides to the conflict.
“In preparation for the repatriation, the Philippine Embassy in Cairo worked closely with the Philippine Consulate in Addis Ababa, Egyptian Passport and Immigration Administration, Cairo International Airport Authority, EgyptAir and Gulf Air – Egypt. The repatriates were also briefed on health and quarantine protocols in Ethiopia, Egypt and the Philippines,” the Embassy said in its Facebook Post.
Last August, three months before the alert level has been raised to 4, almost 300 Filipino construction workers from the Turkish Yapi Merkezi company were repatriated by their employer after the Tigray rebels attacked the railway that they were building.
It is not yet known how many Filipinos are still staying or have opted to stay in Ethiopia despite deteriorating security condition there and reports of Tigray forces advancing to the capital.
The Embassy simply reminded them to “to exercise caution, avoid public gatherings and observe safety at all times.”
Aside from Eritrea, the Embassy is also facilitating the repatriation of other distressed Filipinos in Sudan.
“The Embassy commits to extending assistance to distressed Overseas Filipinos in Egypt, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan,” it added.