Kuwait condemns Rody statements on OFWs
Kuwait has condemned President Duterte’s statement calling for the evacuation of Filipinos from the oil-rich country, saying this could affect the relations between the two nations.
“We actually condemn the statements of the President of the Philippines. And you know we are communicating with the President of the Philippines and with the minister of foreign affairs of the Philippines to try and explain the conditions of work of all Philippines workers,” Kuwait’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah said at a press conference yesterday with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The US official is in Kuwait for the meeting of the global coalition against the Islamic State.
Duterte’s call was in response to reports of massive abuses suffered by Filipino
workers – mostly domestic helpers – at the hands of their employers. Triggering his call was the discovery of the remains of murdered Filipina worker Joanna Demafelis inside a freezer in an abandoned house.
President Duterte met with Kuwaiti Ambassador Saleh Ahmad Althwaik last week to discuss the matter, after which he ordered initially the suspension of deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Monday said he had issued an administrative order on the ban, on President Duterte’s order.
“Of course, there are individual accidents that happen; however, we collaborate in the investigations with the Filipino authorities. So we are in direct communication,” the Kuwaiti foreign minister said.
He added the 130,000 Filipinos in his country comprise the “community that makes less problems.”
“However, this escalation will not serve the interests of either Kuwait or the Philippines,” Sheikh Sabah said.
He stressed that the only solution is greater cooperation and collaboration in solving the crime and in addressing the issue of abuse of Filipino workers.
“Only this can help us get to the bottom of it, can help increase the cooperation between the two parties and increase the number of foreign Filipinos working in Kuwait,” he said.