The first batch of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) repatriated from Middle East arrived in Manila on Wednesday afternoon.

Officials, led by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Sarah Lou Arriola, Labor Undersecretary Claro Arellano and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration deputy chiefs Josefino Torres and Mocha Uson, welcomed the 13 Filipinos, of whom two were minors.

They arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 around 4:30 p.m. via Qatar Airways flight QR-932.

Most of the adult Filipinos were undocumented workers and suspected to be illegal recruitment and human trafficking victims. .

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the first batch of OFWs is composed of nine individuals repatriated from Baghdad and four from Erbil, Iraq.

"They are accompanied by Labatt (Labor Attache David) Dicang of Polo ( Philippine Overseas Labor Office) Doha, Qatar," said Lorenzana.

Lorenzana they were sent off at the airport by Philippine Ambassador to Qatar Alan Timbayan, DENR ( Department of Environment and Natural Resources) Secretary and Special Envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu, and Dicang.

Lorenzana said the Philippine Repatriation Team in Doha, Qatar is continuing to monitor and assess the security situation in all the hotspots in the Middle East, and the processing of OFW repatriation is still in full swing." Robina Asido/DMS