MORE than 42,500 migrant Filipino workers came home last month amid a coronavirus pandemic that has sickened 27.1 million and killed about 884,000 people worldwide, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Of the total, 32,389 Filipinos came from the Middle East, 4,423 from the Asia-Pacific region, 4,109 from the Americas, 1,571 from Europe and 91 from Africa, it said in a statement on Sunday.

Nine flights were chartered in August to bring home migrants from Malaysia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

The agency also helped overseas Filipino workers in Uzbekistan, where there is no embassy or consulate office.

“As the month of September begins, the DFA stands ready to bring home our fellow Filipinos from anywhere in the world,” it said.

It brought home this month 277 migrant workers from Oman, 351 from Amsterdam and 163 others from New Zealand, it said.

Last week, about 360 Filipinos from Beirut arrived home through a DFA-chartered flight. It was the second batch of repatriates from there since an explosion rocked the Lebanese capital on Aug. 4.

The first batch arrived on Aug. 17, while the third batch will arrive on Sept. 24, DFA said. The agency has brought home 164,368 overseas Filipinos as of Sept. 5, it said.

DFA said more than 10,100 migrant Filipinos have been infected with the coronavirus, 3,070 of whom were being treated, 6,280 have recovered and 758 have died. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

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