THE Kuwaiti government has suspended the issuance of entry and work visas to Filipinos effective May 10, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.
DFA Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes confirmed the suspension to CNN Philippines following reports that circulated in the emirate that Filipino workers and tourists are now barred from entering the Middle Eastern country.
Cortes said only Filipinos with resident visas will be allowed entry.
“The Kuwaiti government has suspended the issuance of new entry visas for Philippine nationals into Kuwait. However, those holding current resident visas, as evidenced by their possession of a Kuwait civil ID, can enter and leave Kuwait anytime,” Cortes told CNN.
But Cortes said the DFA has yet to be formally notified by Kuwait as to the reason why it suspended visa issuance to Filipino nationals.
Kuwait-based media reports have cited a supposed directive of Sheik Talal Al-Khaled, the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Acting Minister of Defense who supervises the Kuwaiti Public Authority for Manpower, to suspend the issuance of visas for Filipino workers allegedly for Manila’s failure to comply with provisions of the bilateral agreement on employment it inked with the gulf state.
Cortes said whatever was the reason for the suspension, the Philippines is committed to resolving whatever issues there may be in an “amicable manner.”
Aside from Cortes’ confirmation, the DFA has yet to issue an official statement.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has “deferred” to the DFA on the issue, saying it has yet to get official communication from the Kuwaiti government regarding the reported suspension.
Prior to the assistant secretary’s confirmation, Arab media outlets cited a circular supposedly dated May 10 directing the Kuwait Directorate General for Civil Aviation to “immediately and until further notice… disallow the entry of any Filipino passenger who obtained a visa before the suspension was implemented to enter the country.”
The issue on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait is one fraught with controversy over the years, especially following several incidents involving the deaths of Filipinos in the said country.
Early this year, the burned body of 35-year-old household service worker Jullebee Ranara was found in the desert in Kuwait. She was allegedly raped and impregnated by the 17-year-old son of her employer.
In 2018 and 2019, the deaths of Joanna Demafelis and Jeanelyn Villavende prompted calls for a ban on the deployment of household workers in the oil-rich emirate.
Government records showed that from 2016, at least 185 Filipinos have died of various causes in Kuwait.
The Duterte administration implemented a ban on the deployment of household workers to the country that was only lifted in 2020 after a labor pact was signed with the Kuwaiti government, which commits the latter to ensure the protection and welfare of Filipino workers.
According to the DFA, there are around 290,000 Filipinos in the Gulf state. Labor records show that some 170, 000 of these are deployed as household service workers.
The local recruitment industry said that as many as 15,000 OFWs are projected to be adversely affected by the suspension of issuance of work visas for Filipinos by the Kuwaiti government.
In a phone interview, local recruitment analyst Manny Geslani said at least 3,000 OFWs bound for Kuwait could be affected by the decision of Kuwait.
“It depends on the length of the suspension… but maybe 15,000 in the next three months,” said Geslani, adding: “The suspension is in effect for all OFWs, both new and re-hired are affected.”
It can be recalled that DMW Secretary Susan Ople had pushed for a review of the bilateral labor agreement between the Philippines and Kuwait regarding OFWs last January 2023 following the death of Ranara.
Ople had then rejected calls for the imposition of a deployment ban to Kuwait and instead called for a review of the labor pact. — With Gerard Naval
