MANILA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Sixty overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) arrived in the Philippines from Israel on Thursday to escape the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the country's Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said.
That has brought the number of repatriated workers to 879 since the conflict erupted in October last year, the DMW said.
"This is the largest batch of returning OFWs to come home to the Philippines, availing of the government's voluntary repatriation in the wake of the hostilities that erupted in October," Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said.
The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs said "a little over 30,000 Filipinos" live or work in Israel. However, a diplomatic source said the number could be over 40,000, including those undocumented. ■