The Philippine government on Thursday sounded the final alarm for Filipinos still in Yemen and Libya to make use of the government’s repatriation program and leave the two war-torn countries immediately. To evacuate them later would put the Philippine team and embassy personnel at risk, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
The repatriation of Filipinos in Yemen continues even after another group of 21 Filipinos and one foreigner, traveled from Sana’a and were expected to cross the Yemeni-Saudi border.
With this latest group, the total number of Filipinos evacuated from Yemen reached 537.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario earlier said he was mulling over setting a deadline for the Filipinos holding out in Yemen.
However, he said the government will exert all its efforts to bring all Filipino workers out of Yemen.
“I said I want to put a deadline, but the policy is we leave no one behind, if they are ready to come home, we must be there,” Del Rosario said.
The government raised Alert Level 4 in Yemen last February, making repatriation mandatory for Filipinos there.
The DFA said at least 3,000 of the more than 4,000 Filipinos have already been repatriated from Libya.