127 stranded Filipino seafarers await repatriation — DFA; DFA repatriates 8 stranded Filipino seafarers in China

127 stranded Filipino seafarers await repatriation — DFA
Sep 18, 2020 https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/9/18/127-stranded-Filipino-seafarer...

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 18) — The Department of Foreign Affairs is working to bring home 127 seafarers stuck on ships abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Undersecretary Brigido Dulay.

Dulay on Friday said the department has already sent a note verbale to foreign governments, requesting that they allow stranded Filipinos to dock at their ports, so repatriation may be arranged. Several countries are still banning ships from docking, as they close their borders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

He also noted that some nations still have limited or no international flights, which proves as an additional challenge in bringing home overseas Filipino workers.

“Iba rin po kasi ang kalagayan ng seafarers,” he added. “Nasa laot po ito, hindi kamukha sa land-based na madali silang lipunin."

[Translation: The seafarers’ situation is different. They’re at seas, unlike land-based workers who are easier to gather in one place.]

Based on DFA data, over 175,000 OFWs have been repatriated amid the health crisis. Nearly 62,000 of this number are sea-based workers.

Meanwhile, Dulay assured families of stranded seafarers that the DFA and the Labor Department are already coordinating with concerned agencies to ensure the return of their loved ones. He added that Foreign Affairs chief Teodoro Locsin Jr. has ordered embassies to work round the clock to speed up repatriation.

Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte directed the DFA to identify and help stranded Filipino nationals at seas, saying they “should not be left behind to rot.”

DFA repatriates 8 stranded Filipino seafarers in China
Bernadette E. Tamayo September 17, 2020 https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/09/17/news/latest-stories/dfa-repatriat...

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) repatriated eight stranded Filipino seafarers in China.

The Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Xiamen on September 12 coordinated the repatriation of the unidentified Filipinos from Fujian province.

In a statement, the DFA said the Filipinos have been stranded in the waters off Ningde City, Fujian province onboard Chinese fishing vessel He Li 1 Hao since May 20.

“They were not allowed to disembark in Singapore on their way to the Philippines due to travel restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic,” the Foreign Affairs department said on Thursday.

After months of negotiations involving the seafarers’ Chinese employer, the Chinese government, and the PCG, the Filipino fishermen were allowed to transfer to another Chinese fishing vessel, Ju Long Jia Ya, and were finally brought back to Manila.

The PCG in Shanghai on September 7 also brought home 73 stranded Filipino workers in Shanghai.

The repatriates were shuttled in two buses for the four-hour trip to Nanjing, China where they took a special commercial flight.

The DFA evacuated this week 9,671 distressed Filipinos from around the world. This brought the total number of repatriates to 174,039 since the government started the repatriation program in February amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of the total, 61,716 (35.46 percent) are sea-based while 112,323 (64.54 percent) are land-based.