Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 16) — The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait is eyeing to bring home more Filipinos from the Gulf state this month.
Philippine Charge d’ Affaires to Kuwait Charleson Hermosura said at a televised briefing Thursday that they had asked for clearance for a flight scheduled on July 19.
“We asked for assistance for CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) clearance for a flight…that is going to take place on the nineteenth of July.” he said.
Since March 25, Hermosura said around 4,000 Filipinos have gone home He added these flights, as well as amnesty flights, were paid for by the Kuwaiti government.
“Nagkaroon po ng amnestiya ang Kuwait buong buwan ng Abril. Because of the amnesty, nakapagpauwi po tayo ng 2,213 na mga kababayan po natin,” he added.
To ensure the safety of returning Filipinos, Hermosura said they coordinated with officials from both Kuwait and the Philippines, as well as the CAAP to make sure there were no glitches.
At the same briefing, Hermosura said there were around 300 Filipinos in Kuwait who were infected with COVID-19. Of this number, he said 32 died.
There were also around 23,000 Filipinos in Kuwait who were displaced due to loss of jobs or no work, no pay, and over 5,000 have received assitance via the Department of Labor’s YAKAP program.
