KUWAIT — The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait is currently getting at least 100 ‘rescue’ requests from Filipinos, with an addition rate of five daily, an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
“There are rescue negotiations right now, ongoing in many places,” Raul Dado, executive director for DFA-Office of Migrant Workers Affairs, told reporters in an interview at the embassy.
Dado together with 10 other staff from the DFA Manila are in Kuwait to help the embassy in assisting Filipinos as the deadline for the Kuwaiti Amnesty program lapses on April 22.
Dado said more than 100 Filipinos who wanted to come home sought the embassy’s help.
Most of the rescued Filipinos they assisted are mix of abused and maltreated ones; undocumented Filipinos workers, who cannot travel from work to the embassy; and some new cases of Filipinos who are being retained by employers despite expiration of contract.
Legal action in place
While the number is quite large, Dado said this is “not alarming” because the embassy has its teams already in place.
“Ang aming style is rescue negotiations, so we talk with the employer, we talk with the police stations para matulungan ang ating mga kababayan,” he said.
“It’s not violent, it’s amicable in a way pero nandoon iyong legal action natin kasi kung naabuso ‘yon and we get the person out of the house, mayroon tayong lawyers na nakaabang, we’ll file cases,” he added.
The total rescue requests is usually fluid but with the less than 200 pending rescues and the embassy teams who are now in the field, Dado said he expects to accommodate more than 100 cases before the period of Ramadan starts.
“Maraming variables but with our experience and with the numbers, we are confident to be able to at least to solve these things,” he said.
Meanwhile, he assured that the Philippine government will not stop until the requests are all accommodated.
“We propose to stay on the line with this problem if it takes all summer and we won’t quit until it’s done,” Dado said. (PNA)
