THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday said overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Sri Lanka are still able to continue with their work amid the ongoing crisis.

However, the DFA assured it is ready to repatriate the Filipinos should they request to return home.

As of January 2022, there are 581 Filipinos in Sri Lanka, the DFA said.

The DFA, through the Philippine Embassy in Dhaka, is in touch with the Philippine Honorary Consulate in Colombo and Filipino community leaders in Sri Lanka regarding the current situation of OFWs in the country amid the economic crisis, it said.

“All parties are monitoring if any Filipino worker in Sri Lanka will request repatriation. So far, both the Philippine Embassy in Dhaka and the Honorary Consulate in Colombo have not received any such request.

“For now, most of the OFWs are still able to continue their employment despite the ongoing crisis. Should circumstances necessitate the return to the Philippines of OFWs, this will be coordinated by all concerned agencies, led by the DFA and Department of Labor and Employment,” the DFA said.

Sri Lanka’s government has failed to pay $78m (£63m) in debt interest payments that resulted in two of the world’s biggest credit rating agencies to declare it had defaulted.

The lack of foreign currency to buy their needs from abroad have resulted in acute fuel shortages and increasing food prices prompting Sri Lankans to hold weeks of protests. By Cristina Lee-Pisco

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Cristina Lee-Pisco