KUWAIT – The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait in coordination with the Philippine Embassy organized a special flight to bring home 250 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait.
This is in line with the Philippine government’s commitment to bringing home OFWs who lost their jobs in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group on board a Qatar Airways special flight left Kuwait on Thursday evening and is set to arrive in Manila on Friday afternoon, August 13, 2021.
“Out of the 250 meron tayong 50 distressed workers galing sa POLO shelter Philippine Embassy, the rest mga may sakit na pauuwiin natin and then merong ding mother and children. The rest ay mga finished contract,” stated Philippine Labor Attache to Kuwait Nasser Mustafa who was at the airport to see off the group of OFWs.
Mustafa had to request for assistance from Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III to secure the landing clearance of the special flight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
A landing clearance is needed from CAAP due to the limited number of arriving passengers and other restrictions imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force as part of the government’s preventive measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 in the country.
“Sa lahat po ng mga stranded o distressed OFWs sa Kuwait na gusto nang umuwi at nangangailangan ng tulong, magpalista lamang po sa POLO o di kaya sa embahada,”
Mustafa informed that the Philippine Embassy and POLO in Kuwait will continue to mount repatriation flights to bring home stranded and distressed OFWs.