The Kuwaiti government has agreed Wednesday to the conditions stated in the memorandum of agreement (MOU) with the Philippines, which aims to protect the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Gulf state.
Under the said MOU, employers can no longer confiscate cellphones and passport of OFWs. Moreover, “trading” of workers to different employers is also prohibited.
Despite this, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) secretary Silvestre Bello III said that the move does not necessarily equate to total lifting of deployment ban to Kuwait for first-time OFWs. He will, however, recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte lift the ban for skilled workers.
Bello also said that the MOU between the Philippines and Kuwait would be the main basis in studying if rights of OFWs in other countries in the Middle East are protected.
Earlier in an exclusive interview with The Filipino Times, Bello admitted that the administration is looking at other Middle East countries where the deployment ban can also be imposed.
“We will review the conditions of our overseas workers in other countries, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Jeddah, and other parts of the Middle East. Kailangan i-review naming ‘yan. In fact, we will be seeking a revisiting of the existing bilateral agreements with these countries. We want these agreements to provide maximum and optimum protection to our OFWs,” he said.
On February 9, the 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.
Since the imposition of the deployment ban, thousands of Filipino workers have been repatriated to the Philippines.
