Kuwait: Work, Entry Permits Cancelled for All Filipino Expats – Report
Kuwait has suspended all work and entry visas for Filipino expats after the Philippines allegedly violated a labour agreement between the two countries, according to a report. The report said that the suspension came at the orders of Interior Minister Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah “because the Philippines has not complied with the provisions of the labour agreement between the two countries.”
Sources at Kuwait’s Interior Ministry also added that the move aims to impose the sovereignty of the state. The decision came after the Philippines halted the deployment of first-time workers, especially domestic helpers, to Kuwait in February following the death of a Filipino maid by a Kuwaiti teenager.
The report added that a total of 268,000 Filipinos work and live in Kuwait. Philippine labour officials said in February they planned to engage in negotiations with Kuwait to review the labour agreement, which was signed in 2018 after reports of increased abuses against Filipino workers, especially domestic helpers.
However, the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait reportedly said late Tuesday it has not been notified yet of any such decision by the Kuwaiti authorities. The Kuwait Progressive Movement strongly rejected the establishment of a national committee to regulate the population in the country, mainly to reduce the number of expats, including Filipinos. The movement said expat workers face a series of discriminatory measures including low wages, delayed or unpaid salaries, long working hours, confiscation of passports and others.
The statement called the move a “discriminatory proposition that holds expats responsible for the demographic imbalance, which was the result of several factors, including visa trade and recruitment of foreign workers because their wages are much lower.” It decried the kafala or sponsorship system, describing it as a form of slavery, where foreign workers are forcibly bonded to their employers.
