COTABATO CITY – The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has recently helped another batch of 496 Filipinos stranded in Sabah to return home to their country.
BARMM Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) Minister Raissa Jajurie said 352 or 70% of the returnees are from Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, and Basilan.
Four MSSD social workers were earlier dispatched to conduct intake interviews and debriefing of the returnees onboard the ship from Sabah. The group constitute the 9th batch of returnees assisted by the MSSD since the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
Minister Raissa Jajurie said a total of 2,559 individuals have returned to the BARMM from Sabah since July 4, 2010. Some of the returnees were actually detained for various offenses while others were migrant workers who sneaked into Sabah in search of gainful jobs.
Jajurie assured their Ministry and the BARMM are solidly committed to providing “comprehensive, consistent, and substantial interventions” to help their constituents stranded overseas to return home.