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Filipinos in Gaza still waiting for Egypt's borders to open: DFA

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A truck of a humanitarian aid convoy for the Gaza Strip is parked outside Rafah border gate, Egypt, Oct. 17, 2023. As international mediators continue to push for the passage of aid into Gaza and the exit of foreign nationals fleeing the conflict, from it, Egypt" s="" border="" crossing="" with="" the="" Gaza="" Strip="" in="" Rafah="" remained="" closed="" on="" Oct.="" international="" aid="" convoys="" mostly="" stationed="" town="" of="" Arish="" some="" away="" from="" Rafah.="" EPA-EFE="" Stringer="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/10/18/20231018-truck-gaza-epa.jpg"/><figcaption>A truck of a humanitarian aid convoy for the Gaza Strip is parked outside Rafah border gate, Egypt, Oct. 17, 2023. As international mediators continue to push for the passage of aid into Gaza and the exit of foreign nationals fleeing the conflict, from it, Egypt&#x27;s border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Rafah remained closed on Oct. 16, with the international aid convoys mostly stationed in the town of Arish some 50km away from Rafah<em>. EPA-EFE/Stringer</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Filipinos in Gaza are still waiting to cross the corridor to Egypt and from there safely return to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Saturday. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/17/23/egypt-may-open-border-for-foreigners-exodus-from-gaza-any-day-now-dfa">Egypt may open border for foreigners’ exodus from Gaza ‘any day now’: DFA</a></li></ul><p>Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said that out of 135 Filipinos recorded in Hamas-run Gaza, only 78 have said they plan to leave and go to the Philippines. </p><p>There were some &quot;issues&quot; however, between Egypt and Israel regarding foreigners&#x27; entry to Rafah crossing, Gaza&#x27;s border corridor with Egypt, according to De Vega. </p><p>Egypt has kept the Rafah border crossing closed due to Israel targeting the crossing point as part of its Gaza bombardment following the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.</p><p>&quot;Naghihintay lang kung kailan lang, kailan bubukas ang crossing para makapasok na sila ng Egypt at ma-repatriate,&quot; De Vega said in an interview on Teleradyo Serbisyo. </p><p>(We&#x27;re still just waiting for when the crossing will be opened so they can cross into Egypt and be repatriated.)</p><p>&quot;Akala natin last week pa tatawid na eh. Kaya nananawagan tayo sa Egypt at sa Israel na kung ano man ang issues pa, ayusin na para makatawid na yung mga dayuhan,&quot; he added. </p><p>(We thought last week that they would be able to cross already. That&#x27;s why we are calling on Egypt and Israel to settle these issues so foreigners can cross.)</p><p>If foreigners, however, successfully cross the border, they might have to stay in Egypt for a few days for document processing. </p><p>&quot;Mga six hours pa sa Cairo. Hindi &#x27;yan sasakay agad sa eroplano. Pagdating niyan, ang practice niyan, bibigyan muna ng shelter. One, two, or three days. Minsan isang linggo pa nga. Bayad natin &#x27;yan habang hinihintay &#x27;yung ticket,&quot; the official said. </p><p>(They will not board a plane immediately. The practice is to give them shelter for maybe one, two, three days. Sometimes a week. We will pay for that while waiting for their tickets.)</p><p>&quot;Hindi agad-agad. They will probably be flown in batches,&quot; he said. </p><p>De Vega said the Rafah crossing might be opened over the weekend, to give way for <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/20/23/aid-for-gaza-piles-up-as-israel-rallies-troops-for-invasion">humanitarian aid</a> to Gaza. </p><p>&quot;Hindi papayag yung Egypt na tumawid yung mga foreigner kung walang garantiya yung Embassy nila na iuwi sila. Ayaw ng Egypt na tumanggap na lang ng refugees,&quot; he said. </p><p>(Egypt won&#x27;t allow foreigners to cross without a guarantee from the embassy that they will be brought home. Egypt doesn&#x27;t want to accept refugees.)</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2850984" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>Second-generation Filipinos</strong></div><p>De Vega said some Filipinos who might come back to the Philippines are children whose parents are Filipino and Palestinian. </p><p>&quot;Itong anak na lumaki sa Gaza... may anak na rin.... Isa pang issue yan pagdating nila sa Pilipinas, yung readjustment sa Philippine life. Sa tingin natin, pag-uwi niyan sa Pilipinas, hihintay lang yan kung kailan stable yung Gaza. Babalik,&quot; he said. </p><p>(These children who grew up in Gaza may have also had children. So that&#x27;s another issue, their readjustment to Philippine life. We think that when they get to the Philippines, they will wait for the situation to stabilize and then go back to Gaza.)</p><p>The United Nations said more than one million of Gaza&#x27;s 2.4 million people have been displaced and that the humanitarian situation is worsening by the day, with no green light yet to send in the trucks lined up at the border.</p><p>Medicine, water purifiers and blankets were being unloaded at El Arish airport near Gaza, an AFP reporter saw, with Ahmed Ali, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent, saying he was getting &quot;two to three planes of aid a day&quot;.</p><p>Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Islamist militant group launched a massive attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burned to death, according to Israeli officials.</p><div><strong>— with a report from Agence France-Presse; Deutsche Welle</strong><br/> </div>

DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said out of 135 Filipinos recorded in Hamas-run Gaza, only 78 so far plan to leave and go to the Philippines. 

Filipinos in Gaza still waiting for Egypt's borders to open: DFA

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Filipinos in Gaza still waiting for Egypt's borders to open: DFA

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 21, 2023 12:01 PM PHT

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Israel

Hamas

Eduardo De Vega

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Rafah border crossing

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