OFWs en route to Kuwait kept from boarding due to visa suspension

Filipinos already on their way to Kuwait have been kept from boarding their flights following the country's suspension of their visas.

According to JP Soriano's report on "24 Oras," a Filipina skilled worker already in Dubai was no longer allowed to take her connecting flight to Kuwait.

Her recruitment agency officer in the Philippines said the worker was being asked for a civil ID, which is only issued after completing a medical examination in Kuwait.

Media reports in Kuwait have indicated that its government ordered the suspension of Filipinos' entry and working visas due to the Philippines' non-compliance of some provisions in the two countries' labor agreement.

“There’s a suspension of the visa insurances to Filipinos, pero ito ay para doon sa mga nagtatrabaho doon. Ginawa naman ng Kuwait, in-expand nila na lahat hindi magkakaroon ng work visa," said DFA Undersecretary Eduardo Jose De Vega.

"Ngunit malinaw, na ang ibig nila sabihin, hindi tayo sumunod sa agreement kasi yung nag-suspend tayo kasi gusto nila, walang suspension, natural no kasi kailangan nila ng Filipino workers, masasabi natin ‘yan kasi desisyon ‘to ng pamahalaan kasi dahil sa nangyari kay Ms. Ranara,” he added.

Recruitment agencies are asking for help from the Department of Migrant Workers because many OFWs who have completed their requirements would be affected.

The Kuwaiti Embassy in the Philippines has yet to comment.

Last February, the Philippines stopped sending new Pinoy domestic helpers to Kuwait, following the brutal murder of Pinay Jubilee Ranara by the son of her Kuwaiti employer. —Sherylin Untalan/NB, GMA Integrated News