‘TREAT PINOYS LIKE YOUR OWN CITIZENS’
Palace spokesman says Kuwait international law provides equal treatment
Amid President Rodrigo Dutertes’ total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait, the Philippines has called on the Gulf state to treat the Filipino nationals the same way it treats the Kuwaiti nationals.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. appealed to Kuwait to uphold its obligation under international law to provide equal treatment to all citizens, including foreign nationalities, residing in the oil-rich country.
Citing international law, he said “each country is bound to give to the nationals of another country in its territory the benefit of the same laws, the same administration, the same protection and the same redress for injury which it gives its own citizens neither more nor less.”
“I’d like to remind Kuwait authorities of the standards by which aliens should be treated in their territory,” Roque said in a press conference with Palace reporters.
The government’s plea came following the spate of Kuwaiti employers’ abuses against overseas Filipino workers that prompted Duterte to halt Filipinos from seeking work in Kuwait and seek immediate return of Filipino repatriates.
On Feb. 9, Duterte imposed a total ban deployment to Kuwait after he learned about the case of Filipino worker, Joanna Daniela Dimapilis, whose body was found stored in a freezer in an abandoned flat in the Gulf nation.
Duterte, who was irked by Dimapilis’ death, earlier warned Kuwait of “karma” for its inhumane treatment toward OFWs.
Kuwait was dismayed by Duterte’s pronouncements.
The Kuwait Foreign Minister, in a statement on Tuesday, Feb. 13, condemned Duterte’s directive and sought explanation from the Philippines.
Roque said Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Kuwait Ambassador to the Philippines Saleh Ahmad Althwaik would meet Thursday afternoon, Feb. 15, to discuss possible remedies to ensure that OFWs are protected in Kuwait. /