PH-Kuwait row deepens; envoy leaves Manila

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) failed to come face-to-face with Kuwaiti Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh yesterday after the foreign diplomat was recalled to his capital for consultations.

The DFA was supposed to summon Kuwaiti envoy in Manila to seek an explanation on his government’s order to expel Philippine Ambassador Renato Villa the previous day.

“The action taken by the Kuwaiti Government is deeply disturbing as it is inconsistent with the assurances given by Kuwaiti Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh during his meeting with Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano in Manila on Tuesday,” the DFA said in a statement issued late Wednesday night.

The DFA said it will ask Ambassador Saleh to explain why the Kuwaiti government reneged on the agreement reached with him to work together to move bilateral relations between the Philippines and Kuwait forward.

In the statement, the DFA acknowledged it has been informed that the State of Kuwait has declared Villa “unacceptable” and was given only one week to return to Manila.

The Kuwaiti government ordered the expulsion of Villa in the aftermath of the diplomatic row caused by the rescue of Filipino domestic helpers from the households of their employers.

“In discussions at every level with Kuwait, the Philippines has always emphasized that the well-being of Filipino nationals wherever they may be will always be of paramount importance,” the DFA said.

Sudden departure But the DFA said yesterday that it learned of Ambassador Saleh’s departure after serving a diplomatic note to the Embassy of Kuwait Thursday morning, conveying its strong surprise and great displeasure over the declaration of Villa as persona non grata; the continued detention of four Filipinos hired by the Philippine Embassy; and the issuance of arrest warrants against three diplomatic personnel.

Ambassador Saleh, who was scheduled to meet with DFA officials on Thursday, reportedly left Wednesday night onboard Kuwait Airways flight KU418 bound for Kuwait.

“The Department believes that these acts are inconsistent with the assurances and representations made by the Kuwaiti Ambassador on the various concerns that were brought to his attention by Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter S. Cayetano during their meeting in Manila on 24 April 2018,” the DFA said.

The DFA claimed that in the meeting between Cayetano and the Kuwaiti envoy on Tuesday, it said that the former got an assurance that Ambassador Villa “is welcome to stay in Kuwait until the end of his tour of duty, and that the Government of Kuwait likes Ambassador Villa very much.”

In the same meeting, the DFA said Ambassador Althwaikh also committed the following measures that will immediately respond to the urgent requests by Filipino nationals:

- To strengthen the Kuwaiti Government’s 24/7 Hotline to immediately respond to urgent requests for assistance by Filipino nationals in coordination with the Philippine Embassy;

- To jointly establish additional centers or shelters, if needed, for distressed Filipino workers;

- To jointly formulate mechanisms to ensure better and efficient coordination between the Philippine Embassy and Kuwaiti authorities in responding to any emergency case involving Filipino nationals;

- To ensure immediate action by Kuwaiti authorities on pending requests for assistance from distressed Filipino workers;

-To facilitate repatriation of the more than 800 Filipinos currently staying in shelters of the Philippine Embassy;

- To assure justice for pending and future cases filed by Filipinos who are victims of serious abuse and other offenses;

- To assure proper and humane treatment of Filipinos who may be taken into custody after the April 22 amnesty deadline and to repatriate them immediately with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy;

- To release Filipino nationals hired by the Philippine Embassy who were taken into custody in recent days for their involvement in the actions taken by the Embassy in responding to the calls for assistance by Filipino nationals in distress; and

- To ensure that diplomatic personnel of the Department of Foreign Affairs who are still in Kuwait are allowed to return to Manila without incident at the soonest possible time.

“Given the current circumstances, the Department conveyed its wish to be clarified on the actions to be taken by the Government of Kuwait on the assurances given by the Ambassador (Saleh) to the Secretary (Cayetano),” the DFA added.

Retaliation Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti foreign ministry said in a report that the expulsion of Ambassador Villa was “in retaliation for undiplomatic acts by Philippine Embassy, encouraging Filipino domestic workers to flee employers’ household.”

Quoting an official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said the Arab state renewed its “utter rejection and condemnation” of what it described as “flagrant and grave breach of rules and regulations that govern diplomatic action” following the rescue operation conducted by Philippines Embassy staff to extricate female OFWs from their places of employment.

It further noted that the Ministry has also recalled its ambassador to the Philippines for “consultations.”

The Kuwaiti government was particularly infuriated by the rescue mission conducted by the “reinforcement” to the embassy in Kuwait reportedly dispatched by the DFA.