Kuwait condemns Manila ban on workers

kuwait city — Kuwait’s foreign minister on Tuesday condemned what he called an “escalation” by Manila after the Philippines expanded a ban on its nationals working in Kuwait.

Manila on Monday announced a “total ban” on new employment in Kuwait, including Filipinos who had already obtained employment permits but had not yet left for the Gulf country.

The measure came after President Rodrigo Duterte angrily lashed out at Kuwait over reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation.

“This escalation will not serve the relationship between Kuwait and the Philippines,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al Sabah told reporters in Kuwait City.

“We condemn the statements of the Philippine president, especially since we are in contact with the Philippines at the highest level to fully explain the state of the Filipino workforce in Kuwait,” he said.

Duterte on Friday brandished photos purporting to show a Filipina maid found in a freezer, saying she had been “roasted like a pig”.

He also alleged Arab employers routinely raped their Filipina workers, forced them to work 21 hours each day and fed them scraps.

He asked Kuwait: “Is there something wrong with your culture? Is there something wrong with your values?” —