DFA: 309 Filipinos so far evacuated from Ukraine
Over 40 Filipinos arrive in Lviv and are awaiting repatriation amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo from the Department of Foreign Affairs website)
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 309 Filipinos have so far been assisted by the Philippine government in evacuating war-torn Ukraine amid the military actions initiated by Russia, according to Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola.
Arriola, in a social media post, said 150 Filipinos have already been repatriated to the Philippines while 159 have been evacuated from Ukraine and are staying in nearby European countries as of Friday afternoon.
On Thursday night, Filipino seafarers from the MV Key Knight, MV Star Helena and MV Pavlina also arrived in the Philippines.
DFA welcomes the seafarers of MV Key Knight, MV Star Helena & MV Pavlina who arrived in Manila late Thursday evening. Said seafarers were assisted by the Honorary Consulate in Moldova, & the Philippine Embassy Budapest team in Bucharest, Romania.
— Sarah Lou Ysmael Arriola (@slyarriola)
They were assisted by the Honorary Consulate in Moldova and the Philippine Embassy Budapest team in Bucharest, Romania.
The DFA earlier raised to Level 4 the crisis alert status in Ukraine. Under the Crisis Alert Level 4, the Philippine government “undertakes mandatory evacuation procedures at government expense.” RELATED STORIES: PH orders mandatory evacuation of Filipinos in Ukraine; raises crisis alert level 4