The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said that 95 Filipinos from war-torn Sudan arrived in the Philippines on Tuesday evening
“So we recorded over 400 repatriated Filipinos, 379 plus the 95 Filipinos who arrived last night, so that’s over 400 or almost 500 already,” DFA Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes said, at a media briefing.
According to Cortes, there are 864 registered Filipinos in Sudan. Another batch of Filipinos who evacuated from Sudan are still staying in Cairo, Egypt.
The DFA said some Filipinos are on their way to Port Sudan and will be transported to Jeddah by the Saudi Arabian government through a vessel. In Jeddah, these Filipinos will wait for flights to the Philippines.
The number of registered Filipinos in Sudan rose to 864 since armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out in the capital on April 15.
More Filipinos will return to the Philippines this Wednesday until Friday. Cortes said around 50 to 60 Pinoys are still staying in Khartoum, Sudan.
“The other batches are still in Cairo while the others are on their way to the Port of Sudan where they will be boarding a ship provided by the government of Saudi Arabia,” he said in a Laging Handa briefing.
Cortes said the DFA would facilitate their repatriation once the ship ferries them to Jeddah.
The DFA further said at least 730 Filipinos have fled the Sudanese capital as the ongoing conflict there entered its 25th day.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization said 604 people had been killed and more than 5,000 injured since the violence erupted on April 15 between the two rival military factions.
More than 700,000 people have fled their homes in Sudan to escape from fighting between rival military factions, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Cortes said around 50 to 60 Filipinos remain in the North African state but some of them are already indicating intent to evacuate.
“Yong iba kasi ay kasama ‘yong asawa nila, ‘yong iba naman ay kasama ‘yoong employer nila (Some of them are with their spouses while the
others are with their employers),” he said.
“Ang gagawin natin ay kakausapin natin ‘yong employer nila para pakawalan sila, siguro natatakot ‘yong employer na kapag pinakawalan
ay baka kung anong mangyari sa kanila (What we will do is we’ll talk to their employers to let them leave),” he added.
The battle between the two warring Sudanese forces continues to rage on as talks on a humanitarian truce in Jeddah yield “no major
progress”.
Latest data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs showed that over 500 people were killed while
some 4,599 have been injured since the clashes started.