THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said 25 Filipinos have asked to be repatriated from Sri Lanka, which is on the throes of an economic crisis after defaulting on $51 billion of foreign debt.
Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affair Sarah Lou Arriola said a rapid response team from Manila and the country’s embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh will arrive in Colombo on June 2 to assist in the repatriation.
“There are 25 na gusto magpa-repatriate, and nine of them are minors,” Arriola said in the Laging Handa online forum.
She said the numbers may increase in the next few days.
Arriola said half of the 492 Filipinos in Sri Lanka are married to Sri Lankans and this is complicating the repatriation since they have to ask permission from their husbands first.
“Ang iba gusto muna umuwi pero gusto nila bumalik sa Sri Lanka pagkatapos ng krisis na ito (Some of them also want to come home but express their desire to return to Sri Lanka after the crisis),” she said.
Arriola said while no one among the Filipinos have been hurt by the violence in numerous protest actions in Sri Lanka calling for the resignation of the president, they are also facing difficulties due to the spiraling cost of basic goods.
“Wala tayong nabalitaan na Filipino na nadamay sa kaguluhan pero nahihirapan sila financially (We have not received report of any Filipino hurt in those incidents but they are also experiencing financial difficulties),” Arriola said, adding that inflation rose to 33 percent while food prices also increase by as much as 45 percent.
With the economy in free fall, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a nationwide public emergency last month in the wake of violent protests outside his residence.
To help tide things over, Arriola said the DFA will provide an initial $300 in financial assistance to every adult Filipino in Sri Lanka.
She said the amount will be coursed through the embassy in Dhaka.
The DFA has no embassy in Sri Lanka though it operates a consulate in the capital city of Colombo.
Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. ordered Arriola to fast track the repatriation of Filipinos from Sri Lanka.
