MANILA, Philippines – Having fled strife-torn South Sudan, 11 Filipino repatriates will make it to the Philippines more than an hour before Christmas ends on Wednesday, December 25, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

In a statement, DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez said the 11 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will arrive in Manila at around 10:30 pm on Wednesday.

Composed of male engineers and field supervisors, the group left South Sudan after the Philippines raised crisis alert level 3 over the world’s youngest state that is facing the threat of civil war. (READ: PH tells Filipinos to leave South Sudan.)

The group left South Sudan aboard a US C130 plane via Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday, December 22.

“Our embassy in Nairobi continues to assist those who wish to leave South Sudan, and efforts are under way to locate and contact as many Filipinos as possible,” Hernandez said.

More UN peacekeepers

Originally, he said, up to 95 OFWs lived in South Sudan.

He said as of Wednesday, 55 OFWs have fled South Sudan for countries like Kenya, Uganda, and Saudi Arabia. Up to 31 OFWs remain in South Sudan.

Fighting has gripped South Sudan for a week, after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of attempting a coup. Machar has denied the claim, and has accused Kiir of carrying out a vicious purge of his rivals.

The clashes have left hundreds dead and sent tens of thousands of people fleeing for protection in UN bases or to safer parts of the country, which only won independence from Sudan in 2011, but remains blighted by ethnic divisions, corruption, and poverty.

On Tuesday, December 24, the United Nations Security Council agreed to almost double the size of the peacekeeping force in troubled South Sudan, adding nearly 6,000 extra soldiers and police.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon had called for the UNMISS force to be increased to counter a major outbreak of violence, and member states agreed to increase the military contingent to 12,500 troops. (READ: UN Council approves 6,000 more S. Sudan peacekeepers.) – with reports from Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com