OFWs from Afghanistan to receive financial aid

MANILA, Philippines — Financial aid and other assistance await overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning from conflict-torn Afghanistan.

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Hans Cacdac said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello has directed the agency to extend all necessary assistance to OFWs coming home from Afghanistan.

“The benefits revolve around financial assistance, livelihood and scholarship for those with collegiate dependents,” Cacdac said during the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday.

All displaced OFWs will receive P10,000 financial aid while those with college dependents can avail themselves of P30,000 scholarship grant, he said.

Livelihood assistance amounting to P20,000 is also available for returning active OWWA members and P10,000 for non-active members. Assistance ranging from P100,000 to P1 million is also available to OFWs intending to venture into business.

Cacdac said the first batch of 35 OFWs who returned from Afghanistan are now under quarantine. About a hundred more are expected to be repatriated from Afghanistan.

“We are closely coordinating with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in the repatriation of OFWs from Afghanistan because we don’t have a labor office there,” he said.

Flights cancelled

Meanwhile, two attempts to evacuate Filipinos in Kabul on Wednesday night were unsuccessful due to the cancellation of all commercial flights in Afghanistan, the DFA said.

“Last night, two attempts were made to evacuate Filipinos via New Delhi and Islamabad. However, these were unsuccessful due to the cancellation of all commercial flights,” the DFA said in a statement yesterday.

“As experienced by the groups last night, access to and even within the airport is very difficult, and if able to check in, this is still no assurance that a flight would be able to leave,” the DFA said.

Some Filipinos were able to leave through the help of their foreign employers.

The DFA confirmed that seven Filipinos were evacuated to Qatar on Wednesday while another five were flown to the United Kingdom.

“There are reports of other Filipinos who have left Kabul which our embassies are verifying. In all cases, the DFA will assist in their return to the Philippines,” the department said.

Of the estimated 90 Filipinos in Afghanistan, 79 requested repatriation, the DFA said.

It said it continues to work to repariate the remaining Filipinos in Afghanistan, exhausting all avenues to ensure their safety and eventual evuacuation.

DFA Assistant Secretary for public and cultural diplomacy Eduardo Meñez said “PAL has not yet been able to fly to Afghanistan, but we are also coordinating with all flights allowed to fly out of Kabul.”

A chartered plane hired by the DFA to pick up 132 OFWs in Kabul was not given clearance to land at the Hamid Karzai International Airport by the US Air Force operations team running the airport for safety reason. –  Pia Lee-Brago, Rudy Santos