Some 25,000 household service workers (HSW) were left stranded in the country following government’s order to ban the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to Kuwait.
Their HSWs’ contracts have been approved in Kuwait by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) and have already taken medical examinations paid for by recruitment agencies, according to recruitment consultant Manny Geslani.
“And, while they are waiting, the agencies continue to pay for their housing accommodation, waiting for the go signal to proceed to Kuwait,” he said.
As this developed, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) vowed to strictly carry out President Duterte’s directive to prevent more workers from reaching the Gulf state.
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano and Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said both the DFA and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will implement the President’s instructions “to ensure the protection of the rights and the promotion of the welfare of overseas Filipino workers, not just in Kuwait but also in other parts of the world.”
Cayetano, who cochairs the government Cluster on OFWs with Bello, said the DFA and the DOLE are also coordinating with other government agencies in taking steps to strictly implement the ban on the deployment of new workers to the Gulf state.
“Our efforts to protect our kababayans will not end with the imposition of deployment bans or the repatriation of our workers in countries where they are prone to maltreatment,” Cayetano said. “We will also go after illegal recruiters, human traffickers and other modern-day slave traders who continue to victimize our people.”
Bello, for his part, assured Filipino workers who would be repatriated from Kuwait, as well as those who would be affected by the ban that they will be assisted in finding alternative employment in the Philippines or abroad.
The DFA and the DOLE officials led by DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Y. Arriola received on Monday, the first batch of 377 workers who were repatriated on three commercial flights that left Kuwait on Sunday afternoon.
According to Arriola, the Philippine Embassy and the Polo office in Kuwait are now rushing to repatriate as many as 10,000 overstaying Filipinos, who are expected to avail themselves of an amnesty program arranged with the Kuwaiti government.
“The embassy and Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Kuwait expect that more than 10,000 Filipinos who have overstayed their visas are qualified for repatriation,” Arriola said.
According to Bello, hundreds of Filipinos have been coming to the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait daily to register and initiate the process for their repatriation since the first day of the amnesty on January 29.
“To date, some 2,229 Filipinos have been issued travel documents, and 1,754 of already have been granted immigration clearances,” Bello said.
He added both the DFA and the DOLE have made arrangements with Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific for the repatriation of those already issued travel documents and all those who want to return to the country.
Bello said that, aside from shouldering the cost of the airfare, the Philippine government shall also settle the immigration penalties of overstaying Filipinos.
The DFA conveyed to Kuwaiti Ambassador Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh its strongest protest over the abuses and maltreatment, labor violations and the failure of Kuwaiti authorities to provide protection to Filipino nationals.
Cayetano said the DFA also reiterated its request for concrete action from the Kuwaiti government to address the maltreatment and other abuses inflicted on Filipinos in Kuwait.
He said the DFA also requested the full cooperation of Kuwaiti officials with the Philippine Embassy to promote the well-being of Filipino workers and facilitating the early conclusion of a bilateral labor agreement to protect the rights of Filipino HSWs there.
An average of 5,000 HSWs were deployed weekly in 2017, and the total number is expected to surpass the 2016 figure.
In 2016 around 105,000 OFWs were deployed to Kuwait with 57,061 comprising, the HSWs the second largest destination of housemaids in 2016.
Saudi Arabia has the highest number of HSWs at 105,000, and 275,000 were deployed in 2016, the highest for the past years.
Citing figures from the DOLE, Cayetano said HSWs now comprise 60 percent of the total new hires, with another 40 percent comprising the skilled and professional workers.
“A temporary stoppage of sending HSWs to Kuwait will decrease the number of Filipino workers being deployed to the Middle East,” Geslani said.
He said that, if the ban to Kuwait continues, “there will be a dramatic drop in dollar remittances amounting to over $1.3 billion because of the over 270,000 documented workers now in Kuwait.”
He added a permanent deployment ban will also harm our friendly relations with the Gulf Countries of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Yemen.
“These countries are host to an estimated 1.5 million Filipinos that bring in the bulk of our dollar remittances yearly to almost $28 billion,” Geslani said.
He added China cannot absorb all the displaced workers in Kuwait that easily although it is estimated that from 15,000 to 20,000 HSWs can be deployed to China “once both governments agree on the recruitment process and salary scales.”
Filipinos in China work mostly for multinational companies, including diplomats stationed in Beijing and other cities, including executive officers of large Chinese companies and ranking government officials.
Cebu Pacific and PAL have joined the government’s call to repatriate OFWs in Kuwait and mounted special charter flights for those who wish to come home.
Migrante International, for its part, welcomed the latest attempt of the government to flex its diplomatic muscles to protect the rights of OFWs.
“The total ban will shock and awe the Kuwaiti government. It is a strong message to the host country that they should respect our OFWs,” Migrante International Spokesman Arman Hernando said in a text message.
While they also support the deployment to further improve the protection of OFWs in Kuwait, Coalition of Licensed Agencies for Domestic and Service Workers president Lucy D. Sermonia told the BusinessMirror the recent development will lead to lost employment opportunities for some Kuwait-bound Filipinos workers. With Samuel P. Medenilla