Kuwait condemns ban of OFW deployment

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS President Duterte welcomes hundreds of overseas Filipino workers returning from Kuwait, most with tales ofwoe, at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday night. —MALACAÑANG PHOTO

KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait’s foreign minister on Tuesday condemned what he called an “escalation” by Manila after the Philippines expanded a ban on its nationals working in Kuwait.

Manila on Monday announced a “total ban” on new employment in Kuwait, including Filipinos who had already obtained employment permits but had not yet left for the Gulf country.

The measure came after President Duterte angrily lashed out at Kuwait over reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation.

“This escalation will not serve the relationship between Kuwait and the Philippines,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah told reporters in Kuwait City.

“We condemn the statements of the Philippine President, especially since we are in contact with the Philippines at the highest level to fully explain the state of the Filipino workforce in Kuwait,” he said.

‘Isolated incidents’

“We have 170,000 Filipino nationals living a decent life here,” Khaled said. “They have one of the least number of problems out of all expatriate communities. Isolated incidents unfortunately happen. We share all of our findings and investigations with the Philippine authorities.”

There was no immediate comment from Malacañang on Wednesday.

On Friday, Mr. Duterte brandished photos purporting to show a Filipino maid found in a freezer, saying she had been “roasted like a pig.”

He also alleged Arab employers routinely raped their Filipino maids, forced them to work 21 hours each day and fed them scraps.

He asked Kuwait: “Is there something wrong with your culture? Is there something wrong with your values?”

On Tuesday, Mr. Duterte warned Kuwait of karma if it did not do anything to stop abuses against Filipinos.

Mr. Duterte also reminded Kuwait that the Philippines sent troops to help the US Army defend it when it was  invaded by Iraq in 1989.

“Is this the way you repay us? What did we do, what did the Filipinos do to you? They serve you, but you abuse them, slap them,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech at Ninoy Aquino International Airport after meeting 116 migrant workers repatriated from Kuwait.

“You know, Kuwait, the earth is round. Sometimes it moves fast, you might meet what is called karma. When the time comes, you will remember us,” he said.

No protection

Authorities say 252,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, many as maids. They are among more than 2 million employed in the region, whose remittances are a lifeline to the Philippine economy.

Domestic workers in Kuwait are not covered by ordinary labor legislation.

Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have documented widespread abuses, including nonpayment of wages, long working hours with no rest days, physical and sexual assault, and no clear channels for redress.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday authorities were repatriating 10,000 overstaying Filipinos from Kuwait, taking advantage of an amnesty program arranged with the Kuwaiti government.

Alternative markets

Officials added they were eyeing China and Russia as “alternative markets” for overseas workers.

The arrival of the 116 migrants on Tuesday brought to 522 the number of workers repatriated by the government from Kuwait.

Mr. Duterte told the migrants who came home on Tuesday that he would go to China for a conference and would ask Beijing to take in Filipino workers.

The repatriated migrants each received P15,000 in financial assistance from the government.

They also received bags of groceries and a gift pack.

One hundred-fifty migrants were supposed to come home on Tuesday, but 12 did not show up and 22 were held by Kuwaiti police over some offenses.

The migrants were undocumented or overstaying workers who accepted amnesty and returned home on government expense.

The amnesty program began on Jan. 29 and would end on Feb. 22. —Reports from AFP, Leila B. Salaverria and Dona Pazzibugan