spot_img
29 C
Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

181 Pinoys leave Ukraine capital, 22 await repatriation from Poland

- Advertisement -

Twenty-two Filipinos affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with cruise missiles, tanks and bullets are waiting to be repatriated, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs said Sunday, although some, married to Ukrainians, refuse to leave the country.

Of the total, four are in the western city of Lviv in Ukraine, Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola said in a tweet.

She said 13 were in Warsaw, Poland, while five were in Moldova, adding six other Filipinos had returned to the country.

The DFA official confirmed that the 13 in Poland, who crossed the Polish border from Ukraine and were met there by Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., were preparing to return to the Philippines.

Arriola said 181 Filipinos had fled to Lviv from the capital city Kyiv, where most of the fighting was taking place.

- Advertisement -

Locsin flew to the Ukrainian border to personally ensure the safety of Filipinos and oversee the government’s efforts to relocate or repatriate them to the Philippines amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Locsin attended the European Union Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in Paris. He arrived in Poland on Saturday to help and welcome the first group of Filipino evacuees.

“We are on high alert 24/7 to ensure that Filipinos are safe in this conflict,” Locsin said.

“Our Embassies in Poland and Hungary have been working hard these past days to account for each Filipino in Ukraine, and to repatriate them as soon as possible. Our people only need to ask, and we will get them home safe,” Locsin said.

The DFA reported that more than 40 Filipinos have evacuated from Kyiv to Lviv and were then awaiting repatriation.

“There were more than 40 who were in Lviv, but only 13 were evacuated. What is happening to us now, many Filipinos are reaching out but they really don’t want to go home first,” Arriola said.

According to Arriola, some Filipinos prefer to stay because of their good working conditions, some still hope that the situation would get better, while others have married Ukrainians.

Arriola said that these 13 Filipinos need to undergo COVID-19 testing before they go home to the Philippines.

“We are grateful to Poland because they gave us a humanitarian corridor. Because Poland, their visa system is different. Though Filipinos do not have visas, they are allowed to enter,” the DFA official said.

Earlier, Arriola, Philippine Ambassador to Poland Leah Basinag-Ruiz had received in Lviv 37 Filipinos who traveled the whole day from Kyiv. The Filipinos were accommodated in a hotel in Lviv, as Ruiz said the Philippine Embassy will assist them in leaving Ukraine and entering Poland so they could board their flights on the way home to the Philippines.

Despite the Russia-Ukraine tension, Arriola said the government had maintained Alert Level 2 in Ukraine.

According to DFA, Alert Level 2 or the restriction phase is issued if there are “real threats to the life, security, and property of Filipinos arising from internal disturbance, instability, or external threat.”

She said that the alert status may be raised to Alert Level 4 or the mandatory repatriation if the situation in Ukraine becomes “fatal or very life threatening.”

On the other hand, Arriola noted that there are about 8,000 Filipinos in Russia, many of whom are household service workers.

“So far, there is really no need to evacuate them. But we are in close contact with all our posts in Europe. In fact, our other posts in Europe will provide an augmentation team in Warsaw to help this evacuation process,” she said.

In a related development, former Ambassador to Russia Carlos D. Sorreta backed the diplomatic position of the Philippine government calling for a “peaceful dialogue and resolution” of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin ordered its military to invade its neighboring eastern European country earlier this week.

In a forum organized by the New Era University School of International Relations, Sorreta stressed that the Department of Foreign Affairs was “taking a right track” in pushing for a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“I think the government, the DFA, is taking the right track. We are pushing for peaceful dialogue. At this point, we have not taken sides or either praise one side or criticize the other side,” Sorreta told participants at the forum.

“I agree with their position . . . calling for a peaceful solution, essentially not taking one side over the other, in this military conflict,” Sorreta said, even as he admitted that the Philippine government might seek the help of both Russian and Ukrainian government or its military for the evacuation of Filipinos to safety.

“So there is no question for the Philippine position for all efforts to find a peaceful and diplomatic solution and to avoid rhetoric that could contribute to the hardening of position or even escalation (of war),” the former envoy emphasized.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles