400 workers return home from Kuwait

Around 400 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Kuwait arrived in Manila early yesterday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said they comprise the first batch of migrant workers who were granted amnesty by the Kuwait government.

“They include kababayans who have overstayed or escaped from their employers,” said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr.

Under Kuwait’s amnesty program, all OFWs overstaying will be allowed to return home without any penalties.

Roque said the repatriated OFWs from Kuwait will receive P5,000 financial assistance and an additional P20,000 aid for alternative livelihood.

The presidential spokesman said the government is exhausting efforts to attend to the needs of repatriated Filipino migrant workers.

“The missions all over the Middle East in particular have been instructed to sign alternative employment for our kababayans who have opted for voluntary repatriation from Kuwait,” Roque said.

“We’re particularly keen on finding alternative employment in countries such as Oman and Bahrain, both of which are signatories to the relevant ILO conventions that protect migrant workers,” he added.

The OFWs were repatriated amid reported abuses of employers in Kuwait against some Filipino employees.

On Friday, February 9, President Rodrigo Duterte announced a total ban on the deployment of Filipinos to Kuwait after the body of OFW Joanna Daniela Dimapilis was found in a freezer in an abandoned flat in the Arab nation.

Duterte also asked flag carriers Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific to shoulder the expenses of OFWs from Kuwait who seek to return to the country.

“We do not seek special treatment or privileges for our workers but we do expect respect for their dignity and basic human rights. Keep them free from harm. I implore you. I ask all Arab people, the Filipino is no slave to anyone, anywhere and everywhere,” Duterte implored Kuwait government and employers last week.