Philippines will send ‘no more’ workers to Kuwait, says Duterte

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The Philippines will no longer send workers to Kuwait, President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Sunday, amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries over the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf nation, following the murder of a Filipina maid earlier this year.

A temporary ban on Filipinos going to work in Kuwait was first announced in February following the murder of the maid, whose body was found stuffed in her employer's freezer.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, however, Duterte announced: "The ban stays permanently. There will be no more recruitment for especially domestic helpers. No more."

A handout photo released on February 20, 2018 by the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times shows Filipino workers trying to get amnesty waiting outside the Philippine embassy in Kuwait City. /VCG Photo

About 10 million Filipinos work abroad, seeking high-paying jobs they are unable to find at home, and their remittances are a major pillar of the Philippine economy.

Of those, around 262,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait alone, nearly 60 percent of them domestic workers, according to the Philippines' foreign ministry.

Duterte on Sunday described the treatment of workers in Kuwait as a "calamity." He said he would bring home Filipina maids who suffered abuse as he appealed to workers who wanted to stay in the oil-rich state.

"Come home. No matter how poor we are, we will survive. The economy is doing good and we are short of our workers," he said.

In February, Duterte already lashed out at Kuwait, alleging Arab employers routinely rape Filipina workers, force them to work 21 hours a day and feed them scraps.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte speaks to members of the Philippine community during a gathering in Singapore, April 28, 2018. /VCG Photo

The diplomatic spat between the two countries escalated last week over videos of Philippine embassy staff helping workers in Kuwait flee allegedly abusive employers.

The Philippines apologized over the videos but Kuwaiti officials announced they were expelling Manila's ambassador and recalling their own envoy from the Southeast Asian nation.

Kuwait also detained four Filipinos hired by the Philippine embassy and issued arrest warrants against three diplomatic personnel, Manila said.

The two nations had been negotiating a labor deal that Philippine officials said could result in the lifting of the temporary ban but the recent escalation in tensions has put an agreement in doubt.

On Sunday, Kuwait's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah said in a statement his country "is willing to cooperate with friends in the Philippines to look into ways to resolve all outstanding issues" regarding Filipino workers.

In a speech in Singapore on Saturday, Duterte meanwhile appealed to Kuwait to take better care of Filipino workers: "Just do not hurt them. I plead that they'd be given a treatment deserving of a human being."

He insisted, however, he had “no anger, no hatred" towards the Kuwaiti government or the Kuwaiti people. “Thank you for helping my countrymen all these years. It is a debt of gratitude that after all you were able to help,” he said.

(Top picture: Returning Filipino workers arrive at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines, February 23, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP