(UPDATE) SINGAPORE has provided airline seats to other countries, including the Philippines, in the repatriation of Singaporeans stranded in the Middle East as a result of the United States-Israel war with Iran.
Singapore’s Ambassador to Manila Constance See on Friday said at least 24 Filipinos were part of Singapore’s repatriation flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
See said Singapore deployed a multirole tanker transport (MRTT) aircraft on March 12 to bring Singaporeans home safely from Jeddah.
“After prioritizing Singaporeans and their families, we were glad that available seats could be extended to nationals from other countries, including 24 Filipinos,” See said in a statement.
The flight landed in Singapore on March 13 at 5:59 a.m., the ambassador said. Singapore’s Ministry of Defense (Mindef) said there were 81 Singaporeans and their dependents who returned via the MRTT.
After prioritizing and catering for Singaporeans who registered, available seats were also extended to nationals from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, Mindef said.
“This was very much a partnership. We worked in close coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah to facilitate the Filipinos who joined the flight,” she said.
See said the Philippine government, through the DFA and its missions, has “been mounting complex repatriation efforts to bring Filipinos home safely.”
“Our flight complements those efforts. This is really Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) solidarity in action, neighbors helping neighbors in difficult moments,” she said.
“Our Asean neighbors have assisted Singaporeans in returning home in past crises,” See said.
The Philippine Embassy in Cairo reported continued progress in assisting Filipinos leaving Israel, which had been targeted by Iranian missile strikes.
On March 9, a team led by Vice Consul Bryan Fernandez facilitated the safe entry of the fourth batch of Filipinos from Israel into Egypt through the Taba border crossing.
The group consisted of 16 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who had been working in Israel.
Upon their arrival in Egypt, the embassy team assisted the OFWs in processing their immigration documents before they were turned over to the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Rapid Response Team stationed at the border.
In a related development, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Friday announced the repatriation of 53 Filipino human trafficking victims from Cambodia.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the DMW said the group arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on a Philippine Airlines flight from the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
It said the victims’ return was coordinated by the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh and the DMV Rapid Response Team.
The victims were brought to Cambodia through Telegram, a messaging app, and were promised salaries ranging from $600 to $1,000 and valid working visas.
“One of the victims disclosed being subjected to abuse and made to do 300 push-ups, starved and denied salaries for failing to reach a quota of 26 love scam clients per day,” the DMW said.
Two of the returnees needed medical attention, one with kidney failure and another with a broken clavicle due to a vehicle accident. They were given medicines and referred for free treatment to government hospitals.
