Two groups of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were stranded at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport recently.
They are made up of seven seafarers from Turkey and 53 seafarers based in the Netherlands.
Turkey’s group of seafarers arrived at Schiphol Airport on June 22 to stop over and head to Norway, where a chartered plane would take them to the Philippines.
“Magta-transit lang kami sa Schiphol para sa Norway pero di kami pinayagan ng immigration na makasakay ng flight para sa Norway kasi wala kaming Schengen visa. Parang miscommunication between KLM at immigration kasi di nila na-inform ang immigration na magta-transit lang kami at naghihintay naman ang chartered plane na inasikaso ng kumpanya sa Bergen, Norway,” said Oliver Pansacula, one of the seven stranded OFWs from Turkey.
The embassy spoke with the airlines and authorities to allow them to leave. The embassy staff visited them and gave a small budget for expenses while waiting at the airport.
Meanwhile, a group of 53 seafarers in the Netherlands was also stranded at the Schipol airport after their flight to Manila with a connecting flight to Tokyo Narita Airport was canceled on June 19.
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With the assistance of the Philippine Embassy and the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers and Intelligence and Security Unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs, a select repatriation flight on June 20 was organized for them.
Of this group, 46 boarded the repatriation flight, and seven decided to take another trip that their employers booked for them.
Last week, 12 seafarers from Curacao were also stranded at Schiphol Airport when the airline refused to let them go due to quotas for returning OFWs they could receive. The embassy obtained an exemption from the DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Manila, and they boarded the next flight of KLM to Manila.
Accordingly, the Philippine Embassy is looking forward to a possible special commercial flight on July 3 (Friday) for Filipinos stranded in The Netherlands. Just contact the embassy by emailing thehague.pe@dfa.gov.ph and consul@philembassy.nl for details. The embassy clarified that the ticket was paid by the OFWs’ employers.