Philippines, Kuwait sign agreement to protect Filipino guest workers

Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippines and Kuwait on May 11 signed an agreement to resolve recent tensions regarding labour export.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Kuwait City with his Philippine counterpart Alan Peter Cayetano, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah said the agreement would provide additional protection for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Gulf country.

Under the agreement, (OFWs) will be allowed to keep their passports and mobile phones, and be given a day off per week.

Cayetano said the Philippines would appoint a new ambassador to Kuwait, adding that he will propose the removal of the ban on labor export to Kuwait that had been imposed earlier.

The meeting comes two weeks after Kuwait asked the Philippine ambassador to the country to return home because of the embassy's rescue of distressed Filipino workers from private Kuwait homes without proper coordination with local authorities.

In February 2018, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte issued a temporary ban on sending labourers to Kuwait after a Filipino female domestic helper in Kuwait was murdered. The ban has been shifted from a temporary status to a long-term status since late April.

Statistics from the Philippine Government show that about 262,000 Filipino labourers are working in Kuwait, 60 percent of those are domestic helpers. -VNA