Kuwait and the Philippines have reached an agreement to lift a ban imposed by the Gulf state on receiving workers from the East Asian country and to resume issuing tourist and work visas for Filipinos.
The move follows a year-long diplomatic crisis over labour rights.
The latest agreement allows only the recruitment of experienced domestic workers and those who have previously worked abroad.
Kuwait suspended all new visas for citizens of the Philippines last year after relations soured over the murder of domestic worker Jullebee Ranara. After her death, the Philippines prevented first-time workers, especially domestic helpers, from being sent to Kuwait.
The latest bilateral agreement was announced on Monday by Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Al Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Interior Minister, after meeting Bernard Olalia, Administrator of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (Poea) to resolve the issue.
“The two sides agreed to establish a joint technical working committee consisting of competent authorities from the two countries to meet periodically to address employment-related issues and other concerns that may arise in the future,” an Interior Ministry statement said.
In a statement to The National, the Philippines embassy in Kuwait said it welcomed the lifting of the visa ban on Filipino citizens.
“The embassy looks forward to the enhancement of the bilateral relationship between the two friendly countries with forthcoming meetings and discussions that will take up and address the outstanding labour issues and concerns to the satisfaction of both parties and to the mutual benefit of workers and employers,” ambassador Jose A. Cabrera III said.
The Philippines and Kuwait signed a labour agreement to regulate domestic workers in 2018, when a dispute between the two countries led to a two-month diplomatic crisis after the murder of another domestic worker, Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer.
In February last year, the Philippines imposed a ban on sending first-time domestic workers to Kuwait in protest over the murder of Ms Ranara after her body was found burnt in the desert. An autopsy conducted by Kuwaiti authorities also found she had been pregnant at the time of her death. The 17-year-old son of her employer was sentenced to 16 years in jail, as a minor.
Ms Ranara's murder came nearly five years after the killing of Joanna Demafelis, the Filipino domestic worker whose body was found in a freezer after she was killed by her employers.
It sparked a diplomatic rift and led then-president Rodrigo Duterte to impose a temporary ban on workers from the Philippines moving to the Gulf country.
Both murders prompted the Philippines' government to review the 2018 agreement.
In 2018, Kuwait said two Filipino embassy staff who appeared in viral videos “rescuing” Filipina domestic workers “were enticing female housemaids of the same nationality to escape from their employers’ households”.
At the time, the review of the agreement angered the Kuwaiti government, which told their Filipino counterparts to “respect its sovereignty”.
Kuwait then listed nine actions by the Philippines embassy it said were in breach of the bilateral labour agreement, including accommodating workers in a private residence or a shelter linked to the embassy.
There are about 270,000 Filipinos in Kuwait, many of them working as domestic helpers. They represent 7 per cent of the total Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) abroad, most of whom work in Gulf Arab countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Of the estimated 1.96 million OFWs in 2022, 1.13 million (57.8 per cent) were female, according to the Philippines Statistics Authority.
According to the Philippine Central Bank, personal remittances from Filipinos abroad reached an all-time high last year due to increasing numbers of overseas workers. Data from the central bank showed personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers amounted to $37.2 billion in 2023, up by 3 per cent from the $36.1 billion in 2022.
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Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
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Live: BeIN Sports HD
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- Join parent networks
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Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
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The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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- Have a plan for your savings.
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- Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
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“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
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