FILIPINOS in Sudan were there principally for work. Many are engineers and mechanics working for such Japanese companies as Toyota. There were computer professionals, marketing experts, medical practitioners, hotel and restaurant workers, teachers and the like. They left their families in the Philippines to take on the challenge of working abroad, an employment opportunity that comes with political and security risks which are absent in local jobs.
An unexpected flare-up of hostilities between two factions of the Sudanese military recently dashed the hopes for a better life and a secure future of these Filipino overseas workers.
Fierce fighting between Army troops loyal to Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo is continuing for nearly three weeks now.
‘Our diplomats and labor officials have been doing their level best to do this risky and bumpy extraction mission in Sudan…’
Various countries which have nationals stranded in Sudan cities moved to extricate their citizens from the forsaken country. The Philippines with several hundreds of nationals in Khartoum is no exception. Moving these Filipinos who are seeking help is not an easy task, since both the Sudanese authorities and the government in nearby Egypt where they will be moved temporarily had to check and verify their papers. Vast distances in overland trips have to be covered, too, by officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Migrant Workers to arrange for repatriation of some 500 OFWs initially.
The other day, the DFA said Egyptian authorities allowed 340 Filipinos to enter from strife-torn Sudan after they were held for two days at the border. Filipinos were held at an immigration facility in the Argeen border of Egypt and Sudan before Egyptian authorities issued them visas and clearances. DFA Assistant Secretary for Migrant Workers Paul Cortes said Philippine Ambassador Ezzedin Tago welcomed the Filipinos.
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo Jose de Vega pointed out that initially, Egyptian authorities barred people who had expired passports, no passports, or lost theirs while fleeing Sudan. It was Ambassador Tago who made representation with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate the entry of Filipinos fleeing from Sudan.
Meanwhile, 116 more Filipinos are on their way to Egypt from Khartoum, Sudan’s capital city. They need to travel more than 1,000 kilometers overland to reach the Egyptian border.
It is good to note that through the efforts of our diplomats, the first batch of 17 evacuees from Sudan have arrived in Manila after flying out from Athens, Greece and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, which first rescued their airline crew from the war in Sudan, also helped several Filipinos by transporting them to Jeddah.
As of Saturday, April 29, a total of 610 Filipinos have evacuated from Khartoum, with 391 having crossed to the Egyptian side of the border in chartered buses.
Our diplomats and labor officials have been doing their level best to do this risky and bumpy extraction mission in Sudan, but this had to be done. First, it is their mandate and responsibility to help our OFWs in distress, considered as modern-day heroes of the economy. Second, this should reassure the millions of our working countrymen abroad — on Labor Day itself — that they have a homeland that cares for them.
