MANILA – The Philippines and Kuwait signed an agreement to regulate domestic workers after a dispute between the two countries led to a ban on Filipino workers in the gulf state.
Philippine senators applauded the deal as they hoped it would put an end to abuses some Filipino workers experience in Kuwait.
The deal directs Kuwaiti employers to provide overseas Filipino workers with food, housing and clothing, and register them in the country’s health insurance system.
The workers shall also be allowed to keep their passport and cellphones – which are often confiscated by employers – the agreement stated.
“We give credit to the administration for moving quickly to diffuse the tension so as to ensure the protection and welfare of our OFWs,” said Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara.
“We are hopeful that the signing of the [agreement] would really lead to better working conditions and more humane treatment of Filipinos in Kuwait to put an end to the cases of abuse,” he added.
Sen. Joel Villanueva commended the efforts of the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments to improve labor conditions of OFWs in Kuwait.
“We hope that with this current agreement, closer coordination and strict enforcement of Kuwaiti labor laws can prevent abuses against our OFWs,” Villanueva said.
He also urged the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labor and Employment and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to “be proactive” in ensuring the Filipino workers’ safety and welfare.
Under the deal, the Kuwaiti government shall establish a mechanism for 24-hour assistance to OFWs, and provide legal assistance with regard to violations of the labor contract or existing laws on domestic workers.
Employers who violate the labor contract or abuse workers will be disqualified from recruiting Filipino workers, the deal stated.
In addition, contract renewals should be approved by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and will not be automatic.
Kuwait Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah announced the signing of the agreement during a joint press conference Friday with Filipino counterpart, Alan Peter Cayetano.
Cayetano said a new ambassador to Kuwait would soon be appointed and he would advise Duterte to “immediately” lift the OFW ban.
“I think the crisis is over. We will move on with the bilateral relations and we will resume normal ties with Kuwait,” an official in Cayetano’s delegation said.
“An important milestone” was how Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian described the deal.
“Moving forward, our government must do everything in its power to ensure that OFW rights enshrined in the agreement are upheld by the Kuwaiti government,” he said.
The Philippine government should work with Kuwaiti authorities to “establish effective enforcement mechanisms [that] will ensure compliance with the [deal] and impose tough sanctions on offenders,” he added.
In February President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a partial ban on workers travelling to Kuwait after a Filipina maid was murdered and her body found in a freezer.
The crisis deepened after Kuwaiti authorities in April expelled Manila’s ambassador over video footage of Philippine Embassy staff helping workers escape employers accused of mistreatment.
About 262,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, 60 percent of them in domestic labor, according to government data. (With Agence France-Presse/PN)
