PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said government will try to get trapped Filipinos out of war-torn Sudan within the 72-hour ceasefire period agreed on by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as three teams led by Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople will fly to Egypt to oversee the evacuation and assist the affected workers.
“Right now, we are hoping that the 72-hour ceasefire that has been declared will hold… So we’re trying to… see if there’s a window of opportunity na mailabas natin ang mga Philippine nationals natin (to bring out our nationals),” the President said in a video message after meeting with officials of the Department of National Defense, the Department of Migrant Workers, the Armed Forces, and other agencies.
Several ceasefires have been declared since April 15, when fighting between the forces of two warring generals broke out, but these were not observed. Several countries have been evacuating their nationals during lulls in fighting. On Tuesday, the two sides vowed to observe a new three-day ceasefire brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said the ceasefire starts “at midnight on April 24, to last for 72 hours.” Sudan’s army said the ceasefire will start at midnight on April 25.
Marcos said said alternative routes and exit ways will be taken, such as Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Egypt, noting the airport in Sudan has been shot at and cannot be used, while land routes “are not completely safe.”
Ople, in a briefing after the sectoral meeting, said the exit routes would be from Khartoum in Sudan to Aswan in Egypt, by sea from the Port of Sudan to Aswan in Egypt, and by air from Djibouti.
ASSISTANCE
She said the evacuated Filipinos will receive $200 each as assistance and will be given the chance to either return to the Philippines or seek jobs elsewhere such as Saudi Arabia. She said the government is talking with Saudi Arabia on whether employment for the Filipinos, who are mostly skilled workers, would be possible.
She said job matching is being done by the DMW for the Filipinos who would leave Sudan.
She said financial assistance would also be provided to the families in the Philippines of the affected Filipinos, but she declined to say the amount.
Ople said based on the data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), 725 Filipinos in Sudan have contacted the Philippine embassy, and 327 of them are seeking repatriation.
She expects the number to rise.
Ople was set to leave Cairo last night to head the first team and oversee the setting up of a center where they will receive the Filipinos who would be evacuated from Sudan. She said the second team, led by Labor Attaché Adam Musa, and the third team led by Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Arnel Ignacio, will leave today.
The DFA said at least 69 Filipinos have been evacuated from Sudan amid continuing clashes.
DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the first batch of Filipino evacuees composed of 50 individuals left Khartoum by land at 8 p.m. (Manila time) Monday. Khartoum is around 1,000 km from Cairo, Egypt.
Daza said the evacuees will were expected to reach Aswan, Egypt before proceeding to Cairo.
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo Jose de Vega said aside from the 50 Filipinos, “we know of at least 16 more Filipinos who left on their own the other day,” adding the employers of the 16 provided for their transport.
Last Saturday, three Filipino women who were employees of Saudia Airlines were among the 157 Saudi citizens and other nationals who were evacuated by Saudi military forces from the Port of Sudan to a naval base in Jeddah.
The embassy in Cairo, which also exercises jurisdiction over Sudan, advised Filipinos seeking government evacuation from Khartoum to wait for advice on the availability of transportation.
“We will notify you on the appropriate time and gathering point, once options become available. Notifications will come through the Embassy or the Consulate,” the embassy said.
It added that those who will travel on their own or with their employers to Wadi Halfa in the Sudan-Egypt border should inform the embassy in advance by message or email, in order to facilitate entry into Egypt.
It also reminded Filipinos to inform the embassy if they will choose to evacuate through the Port of Sudan.
It said Filipinos may reach out to the embassy through the following communications channel: WhatsApp/Mobile: (+20) 122 743 6472
Facebook/Messenger: PHinEgypt, and email at cairo.pe@dfa.gov.ph.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged Filipinos here who have relatives or loved ones in Sudan to convince them to seek assistance from the embassy.
He also said authorities should make good use of the P1.259-billion DFA budget for the “protection and promotion of welfare of overseas Filipinos.”
He said the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, an attached agency under the DMW, also has a repatriation budget sourced from employers’ contributions, which he said could reach around P1.40 billion as of the end of 2021.
Based on his estimates, it would cost the government somewhere between P34 million and P46 million to bring the Filipinos home from Sudan.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it is ready to assist the Filipinos who will return to country from Sudan.
“There are programs and plans in the dioceses to give hope, heal, and help our Filipinos that have been repatriated,” said Bishop Ruperto Santos, vice chairman of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. — With Ashzel Hachero, Raymond Africa and Gerard Naval
