MANILA — While certain assurances on the protection of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) made by the Kuwaiti government were welcomed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is considering a bilateral agreement with the Kuwaiti government to ensure the safety of OFWs in the Gulf state.
“There is need for a bilateral agreement but we all know any agreement is good if implemented,” Cayetano said. “We want to be more practical sa hinihingi sa kanila so continuous ang discussion but of course, on our level, ambassadors, we want to build trust.”
In a meeting with Kuwaiti ambassador to the Philippines Saleh Ahmad Alhwaikh, Cayetano said the government will be “more practical” in setting measures to guarantee protection of OFWs in the Gulf state.
“On the case of Joanna Demafelis, they went all out in expressing outrage against perpetrators, another thing is his (Kuwaiti envoy) acknowledgment that salary of workers agreed on contract must be strictly adhered to,” Cayetano said.
Demafelis was the Filipino worker who was found dead in a freezer in Kuwait.
Cayetano listed problems Filipino workers experience in Kuwait such as underpayment or delayed payment of salaries. In some cases, Cayetano said Filipino workers even suffer total non-payment.
The foreign affairs department has recorded complaints about prolonged working hours and shortened rest hours, transfer of household worker from one employer to another or from one agency to another, and even bringing of household workers to another country, particularly Saudi Arabia by employers without the workers’ consent.
The Philippines has implemented a total deployment ban to Kuwait following cases of abuse, the most recent of which was the death of Demafelis.
Filipinos staying in the Gulf state who want to come home were assured of assistance by the government, while those overstaying nationals are being assisted through an amnesty program granted by the Kuwaiti government.
As of Feb. 14, 2018, there were 759 undocumented OFWs who have been repatriated from the Gulf state.
According to the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, 2,229 Filipinos have been issued travel documents, with 1,754 of them already granted immigration clearances.
As of June 2017, data gathered by the DFA from the Kuwait Ministry on Interior showed that 10,912 Filipinos have been overstaying and are undocumented, 73.8 percent of which were household service workers.
As of 2017, DFA recorded a total of 252, 203 Filipinos in Kuwait. (PNA)
