In a bid to clear any confusion with regard to the partial ban on deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait, following the recent murder of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) by her Kuwaiti sponsor, the Philippine Labor Attache in Kuwait, Nasser Mustafa said in an advisory posted on social media that:

“The ban applies only to visa 20 (domestic helpers) for both new hires and ‘balik mangagawa’ (returning OFWs). This includes the verification, accreditation and processing of individual contracts and additional job orders for visa 20. All overseas employment certificates issued to domestic workers by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on or before 5pm on 3 January, 2020 shall be valid for deployment.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait is reportedly communicating with the Philippine authorities to normalize the situation. They urged the Philippines to reconsider the partial ban, and allow the court to investigate and to deliver justice given that the victim’s employers had been arrested and were in custody. They also pointed out that an individual incident should not be considered a reflection of Kuwait society as a whole.

On a related note, the recent partial ban on deployment of Filipino household workers to Kuwait has impacted the price of hiring Filipino domestic workers available in Kuwait, with prices soaring from KD200 to around KD550. The ban has also increased prices for household workers from other countries, including Indian, Sri Lankan and workers from the African continent. Domestic workers are also being provided by black-market offices located in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Farwaniya for prices ranging above KD1,000.


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