MANILA — Seventy overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who availed of Kuwait’s amnesty are home by Wednesday night, April 11, authorities said.
They are scheduled to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 9:25 p.m. via Etihad Airways flight EY 428.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will provide them with temporary shelter, and will also shoulder their transportation expenses to go home to their respective provinces.
A deployment ban to Kuwait has been imposed by the Philippine government since February due to reports of maltreatment and abuse. One domestic helper there, Joanna Demafelis, was killed and was found inside a freezer. Her employers, the primary suspects, were sentenced to death by Kuwaiti authorities.
Since the implementation of the deployment ban, more than 4,000 OFWs in Kuwait have already been repatriated, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“The DFA targets to repatriate 10,000 OFWs until April 22, the deadline for the extension of the amnesty,” Charmaine Aviquivil, DFA Office of Public Diplomacy executive director, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) earlier.
Meanwhile, OWWA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac has advised the OFWs from Kuwait to coordinate with OWWA regional offices to get cash assistance.
“All OWWA members affected by the deployment ban to Kuwait are entitled to receive cash assistance. Cash assistance is PHP5,000 for active members, and PHP2,500 for inactive members,” he said.
OFWs who want to put up a business are also advised to coordinate with OWWA regional offices for financial assistance. (Ma. Cristina Arayata/PNA)
