Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah condemned President Rodrigo Duterte’s statements regarding the alleged abuse that overseas Filipino workers suffer from in Kuwait.
“We actually condemn the statements of the President of the Philippines. We are communicating with the president of the Philippines and the Minister of Foreign Affairs after being read to try and explain the conditions of work of all Philippines workers,” Al-Sabah said.
This was in response to the remarks Duterte made on Tuesday wherein he vented out his anger regarding the said maltreatment of OFWs.
“Anong nagawa ng Pilipinas sa’yo? Nagsisilbi, inaabuso ninyo. Pinagsasasampal ninyo. Alam mo, Kuwait, ang mundo umiikot ha. Minsan ‘yan mabilis masyado, baka mag-abot yan ng tinatawag na karma. When that time comes, you will remember us,” he said.
Al-Sabah also added that the Kuwaiti government is ready to face investigations.
“We are in direct communication. However, this escalation will not serve the interests of either Kuwait or the Philippines. The only solution is should cooperate and collaborate on the details of the very sad and unfortunate events that happened 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 entities those working in Kuwait,” he said.
On February 9, the Philippine government announced the total deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait following the death of Joanna Demafelis whose body was found inside a freezer of an apartment in the Gulf state.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has also signed an administrative order on Monday officiating the said ban.
Since the imposition of the deployment ban, hundreds of Filipino workers have repatriated to the Philippines.
