THE Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) on Tuesday said that a total of 4,049 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia have received government aid amid the kingdom’s continuing conflict with Houthi militants.
OWWA and the Department of Migrant Workers delivered 5,496 services to the OFWs, such as financial, food, transportation, accommodation, medical and repatriation assistance, the agency said in a statement, citing reports from its Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Assistance Monitoring.
The data also include the successful repatriation of 422 Filipinos, composed of 414 OFWs and eight dependents, aboard 11 international flights, OWWA added.
This number includes the 40 OFWs from Riyadh who arrived on Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 aboard Qatar Airways Flight QR 928.
The DMW and OWWA have been assisting OFWs in Riyadh since Oct. 10, when Houthi missiles and drone strikes killed 13 people and injured over 300 others, including seven Filipinos.
In a separate incident, an intercepted missile attack on a Shaybah oilfield killed a Filipino on Oct. 23, according to Saudi’s Ministry of Energy. — Francessca S. Abalos