135 Filipinos repatriated from Riyadh

MANILA, Philippines - One hundred and thirty five overseas Filipinos in Riyadh are undergoing repatriation from August 12-15 with the assistance of the Philippine government, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported on Thursday.

The effort comes as Saudi Arabia implements its policy of weeding out illegal and overstaying foreigners in the kingdom to favor its citizens in getting employment opportunities.

The recent addition brings the total number of government-repatriated Riyadh-based Filipinos to over 1,100. The Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, meanwhile, has so far repatriated a total of 881 Filipinos on tickets purchased by the Philippine government.

"The embassy is also arranging the flight booking of another 203 Filipinos who already obtained their final exit, and requested the assistance of the Philippine government for repatriation tickets. Recently, 97 mothers with undocumented children also obtained their exit visas after the DNA testing by the Ministry of Interior team and fingerprinting at the General Directorate for Passports (Jawazat – Wafeedin at Shumeisy)," DFA said.

Resuming operations after the end of the Eid'l Fitr holidays, the embassy and consulate in Saudi Arabia will continue to assist Filipinos in fixing their status or in obtaining exit visas until the Nov. 3 deadline.