MANILA, Philippines – THE Department of Migrant Workers on Wednesday said the country was poised to resume sending Filipino migrant workers to Kuwait after the latter imposed a visa suspension last year over reports of domestic abuse to OFWs in the Arab country.
Filipino workers this time were assured of stronger protection and enhanced monitoring of their conditions as a result of an agreement between the two nations.
In a press briefing last June 26, DMW Sec. Hans Leo J. Cacdac confirmed that the Gulf State will be reversing the restrictions it imposed on Filipinos last May 2023. Deployment is expected to resume once corresponding policy guidelines for the protection of Filipino migrant workers are issued.
The new regulations are said to pave the way for the deployment of professional, skilled, and semi-skilled Filipino workers to Kuwait. Domestic helpers are also allowed entry into the country provided that they have already experienced working overseas.
Among the new protective measures include an implementation of a system for the Blacklist and Whitelist of Recruitment Agencies and employers, electronic payment of salaries and the appointment of welfare officers to monitor, report and assist OFWs.
“Nagpapasalamat tayo sa Kuwaiti side for their openness and sa magandang pag-uusap,” Cagdac said.
Kuwait suspended issuing visas to Filipinos last year shortly after the Philippines froze processing of employment to the former following the gruesome murder of domestic worker Jullebee Ranara in January 2023.
Relations between the two nations soured when the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs presumed that Kuwait’s step was a “diplomatic pressure” to the Philippines for it to lift its move.
Rarana’s murder was among the biggest newsmakers of 2023. Her body was found charred beyond recognition with her head smashed at a desert along Salim Road in Kuwait. Her perpetrator, then 17-year old son of her employer, was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment after a guilty verdict.
