THE PHILIPPINE Embassy in Kuwait assisted in the repatriation of 66 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in distress, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

“Our efforts have brought home some 425 distressed Filipinos from Kuwait to date,” DFA Undersecretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola was quoted as saying in a statement Thursday.

“Our repatriation program is part of our mandate to protect Filipinos in distress abroad.”

This is the eighth batch of OFWs that availed of the Embassy-Assisted Repatriation Program (EARP).

EARP assists OFWS with expired visas or who have absconded from employers.

The program is funded through the DFA’s P1-billion Assistance to Nationals (ATN) Fund. The Embassy has so far spent a total of P9.2 million for the repatriation of OFWs from Kuwait.

EARP is the flagship program of the Embassy’s ATN unit. Filipinos who avail of the repatriation offer are given free international flight from Kuwait to Manila and a domestic flight from Manila to their respective provinces.

The Embassy also provides $100 in financial assistance while they stay at the Migrant Workers and Other Overseas Filipinos Resource Center before they are sent home.

“We call on our Filipinos to take advantage of the help offered by the Duterte administration and come home,” Ms. Arriola also said. Prior to this batch, the Embassy repatriated 32 OFWS on Oct 5. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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