Combating coronavirus: 415 Filipinos stranded in UAE repatriated

Some 415 Filipino seafarers who were stranded in the UAE for six weeks were flown home on chartered Emirates flights from Saturday to Sunday.
When borders closed and flights were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the seafarers were on board cruise ships MV Norwegian Jade, SS Nautica, and SS Voyager, which are currently docked at Port Zayed in Abu Dhabi and Port Rashid in Dubai.
"They are not based in the UAE. They were at the ports when flights were suspended, so they had to stay in the country for more than six weeks," said Marford Angeles, Consul-General and Deputy Head of Mission at the Philippine Embassy.
The embassy coordinated with the UAE authorities to arrange the seafarers' flights amid travel restrictions, Angeles said. Tickets and all repatriation expenses, however, were shouldered by Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL), which owns and operates the three vessels.
*The first batch of 207 repatriates was flown home on Saturday morning, supervised by the Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Hjayceelyn M. Quintana, along with other officials. *
Then on Sunday morning, Philippine Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes saw the next 208 seafarers off at the Dubai international airport.
Cortes assured that the group is covered by the Philippine government's DOLE-AKAP programme for overseas Filipino workers affected by the crisis. This means they will receive the one-time cash aid of Dh730.
Upon the group's arrival in Manila, they would be subjected to mandatory screenings and official health briefings. Then, they will have to undergo a 14-day home quarantine as part of Covid-19 precautions.
"The (Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs) and its partners will continue to bring home distressed land and sea-based overseas Filipino workers affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic well beyond the Holy Week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter for the Christian church)," the government department said in a statement.
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