BY GERARD NAVAL and ASHZEL HACHERO
MIGRANTS group Migrante Philippines yesterday said the decision of the Kuwaiti government to suspend the issuance of new entry visas to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have stranded at least 130 workers daily bound for the Arab nation.
Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Talaal Al Khalid has issued a circular effectively halting the issuance of all entry and labor visas for Filipino workers allegedly due to the non-compliance of Manila with the implementing provisions of the 2018 labor agreement between the two countries.
In a statement, Migrante Philippines chairman Arman Hernando estimated that an average of 130 OFWs scheduled to leave for Kuwait have been unable to depart due to the lack of entry visas.
“In each day that the ban is being imposed by Kuwait, around 130 OFWs are unable to fly out of the country. It destroys the livelihood of Filipinos who only want to give their families a good life by seeking jobs overseas,” Hernando said.
Hernando said the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) should “immediately act in identifying the OFWs offloaded or stranded so that they will get the necessary assistance as well as indemnity for their sufferings.”
A team from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) and the DMW are set to discuss the issue with Kuwaiti officials.
DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Eduardo Jose De Vega told CNN Philippines cautioned, though, that the discussion may not yield immediate solution to the issue.
“I just want to manage expectations. They are not going to come back with the issue fully resolved. This is an exploratory talk which eventually, hopefully, will lead to long-lasting solutions. At least, we are talking with the Kuwaitis to tell them we are not quarreling with them, we just want to clarify some things. We have to come up with diplomatic solutions but at the same time protect the integrity of our workers,” De Vega said.
De Vega said Philippine officials have yet to get a full explanation from Kuwaiti authorities on why it had decided to prohibit Filipino workers from entering the oil-rich country.
He said reports that visa issuance was suspended because Manila violated the labor agreement that was an offshoot of a diplomatic impasse in 2018 when the DFA, through the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, staged several rescue missions for distressed Filipino workers in the emirate, with embassy officials even filming some of the rescues.
He said it even led to Kuwait declaring the Philippine ambassador persona non grata.
“Because of that, we came up with an agreement the same year on managing the deployment process of household service workers to Kuwait. But now, Kuwait is claiming there are some pending issues we haven’t resolved yet. One issue at the time was our management of the shelter for runaway or distressed Filipinos,” De Vega explained.
He said since the shelter in Surra, Kuwait City was becoming congested, they decided to move some of the runaway Filipinos to hotel rooms, adding that the Kuwaitis expressed reservation that the hotel rooms are becoming extensions of the Philippine mission to the emirate.
“Honestly, we only wish that they had discussed this with us before they suddenly dropped the bombshell last week. But that’s why we gonna talk to them,” De Vega said, adding that “we are obligated under our laws to maintain these shelters” not to encourage Filipinos to run away from their Kuwaiti employers but for their protection.
He said the ban on the entry of Filipinos to Kuwait will affect an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 skilled workers.
OFW DEPLOYMENT
The issue on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait is one that has been fraught with controversy over the years, especially after 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.
Ranara’s death prompted the government to review the deployment of first-time Filipino household workers to Kuwait.
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 were reported to 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, which commits Kuwait to ensure the protection and welfare of Filipino workers.
There are around 260,000 Filipinos living and working in Kuwait, of which around 170,000 are deployed as household service workers.
