Kuwait is a Deadly Place for Filipino Workers

In February another OFW in Kuwait was raped and killed. In response the Philippines issued a ban on first-time domestic workers. In response the Kuwaiti government has suspedned the issuance of visas to Filipino workers. So far this measure has displaced 815 OFWs.

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/215277/kuwait-visa-suspension-displaces-815-ofws-says-dmw

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) reported that travel to Kuwait has been “deferred” for 815 overseas workers (OFWs) following the Gulf state’s suspension of new visas for Filipinos.

At least 515 of those affected are domestic workers while the rest were supposed to work in service industries as waiters, vendors, sales associates, and nurses.

Imagine being so desperate for a living wage that you spend thousands of pesos to travel to Kuwait to be a waiter. That is ridiculous and the symptom of a much larger problem which is that basic wages in the Philippines do not even meet the poverty threshold. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1766718/basic-wage-in-ph-not-even-enough-to-meet-poverty-threshold-says-think-tan

The poverty threshold, which is set by the government, already “grossly underestimates” poverty in the Philippines, but what’s worse, a think tank stressed, is that the minimum wage Filipino workers receive is not even above the poverty line.

According to Ibon Foundation, Filipino workers and their families “are barely surviving on the minimum wage [set by the government] because this is even less than the official poverty threshold for a family of five.”

According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the poverty threshold in 2021, which is the minimum income that a family of five needs to meet basic food and non-food requirements, was P12,030, or almost P80 a day for every family member.

Ibon Foundation already stressed in 2019 that the poverty line is too low–the reason that millions of poor Filipinos are left out of the data, which the government releases every three years.

But this is not the only problem since based on data from the National Wages and Productivity Commission, the average monthly minimum wage in the Philippines is only P8,902, which is P3,128 or 26 percent less than the already low poverty threshold.

As stressed by the think tank, “[this] makes the minimum wage a family poverty wage.”

So, it's no wonder that Filipinos look abroad to earn a higher wage. Sometimes this comes at a great price and mothers are forced to abandon their children who are in turn murdered by their caretaker. 

But let's cut to the chase here. Kuwait is a deadly place for OFWs.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/16/23/proof-of-life-measures-for-ofws-in-kuwait-proposed

A lawmaker on Tuesday proposed several measures that would help ensure the welfare of Filipino workers in Kuwait.

According to Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo, shelters for abused workers should be non-negotiable during the talks between Philippine and Kuwaiti officials.

The chairman of the House panel on overseas workers affairs also proposed so-called proof of life measures to protect Filipinos in the Gulf nation.

"One of those perhaps is a requirement by the employer that they would bring the Filipino worker to the foreign recruitment office or at the POLO's office regularly. Perhaps, once every quarter or perhaps, every month," Salo told ANC's "Headstart".

"This is what we called the proof of life. That even there are no police officers going to the homes of the employers, we're pretty assured that our Filipino workers are really being treated well," he added.

The lawmaker lamented that some employers still hold the passport of the household workers in Kuwait.

Philippine officials will visit the Gulf State this week to clarify the suspension of the issuance of new entry visas for Filipinos.

Without giving details, Kuwait has said the move was due to the Philippines' violation on a labor agreement.

In February, the Department of Migrant Workers implemented a deployment ban for newly hired or first-time domestic workers in Kuwait following the brutal killing of Jullebee Ranara.

The 35-year-old domestic worker was found dead in a desert in the Gulf State on January 21. 

An autopsy report showed Ranara was pregnant at the time of her death.

If the government thinks imposing a proof of life requirement on Kuwaiti employees is a necessary thing then it's time to outright ban all Filipinos from working in Kuwait. What is it going to take for the government to acknowledge that the Kuwaiti people and government do not have the best interests of Filipinos in mind; that to them the Filipino is a kaffir whose life is worthless?

At least one politician acknowledges this fact. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/20/total-deployment-ban-to-kuwait-yes-says-house-foreign-affairs-panel-chair

Pangasinan 3rd district Rep. Rachel Arenas, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, is calling for a total deployment ban on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Kuwait.

The chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs is calling for a total deployment ban on overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Kuwait.

This, as Pangasinan 3rd district Rep. Rachel Arenas described as an act of retribution the recent decision of the Kuwaiti government to suspend the issuance of new entry visas for Filipinos.

“This total deployment ban must be enforced until the Kuwaiti government sit down with our officials and agree to our demands. Until then, we should not entertain their demands and acts of intimidation," Arenas said.

Last February, the Philippine government issued a deployment ban on first-time household Filipino workers to the oil-rich nation. This was triggered by the brutal murder of overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jullebee Ranara, in Kuwait.

Ranara was reportedly raped, murdered, burnt, and then thrown in the desert.

Arenas, who has been actively assisting OFWs who were victims of abuse together with her mother former Deputy Speaker Rose Marie "Baby" Arenas, reminded the Kuwaiti government that the decision of the Philippines to issue a deployment ban to their country was rooted in its deplorable history of maltreatment against OFWs most especially domestic workers.

She said Kuwait's "coercion style", or plan to pressure the Philippines into lifting the domestic workers ban with its visa suspension, does not sit well with the Filipino people.

“It pains me to see OFWs being abused - more so slaughtered by people whom they selflessly served...This only happens in Kuwait and the Kuwaiti government seems to have no teeth in implementing their laws.

"Our OFWs should be sent to countries who will treat them with dignity, protect their rights, and promote their welfare,” she said.

Can you see the contradiction in this lady's statements? She wants the employment ban to be enforced until the Kuwaiti government meets the Philippines' demands but then she says it pains her to see OFWs being abused and slaughtered! Does she really think that abuse and slaughtering are going to stop simply because the two governments have come to an agreement?

How about imposing the ban forever. And then take measures to fix the national economy. But by all means stop sending Filipino workers to Kuwait!