Around 150 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) want to be repatriated from Sri Lanka, Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said Thursday.

“We have 700 Filipinos residing or staying in Sri Lanka. Out of this number, around 150 requested for repatriation,” Ople said in a press conference held at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City.

“We are relying on the Department of Foreign Affairs for assistance to be given to the affected workers and they assured me that the repatriation arrangements are underway,” she added.

Recently, protesters mobbed the residence of Sri Lanka President Gotbaya Rajapaksa and demanded that he step down due to what they consider as economic mismanagement.

Rajapaksa fled the country Wednesday even as he declared a state of emergency. Jaspearl Tan/ DMS