Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday said the temporary ban on Filipinos going to work in Kuwait is now permanent, intensifying a diplomatic standoff over the treatment of migrant workers in the Gulf nation.
Duterte in February imposed a prohibition on workers heading to Kuwait following the murder of a Filipina maid whose body was found stuffed in a freezer in the Gulf state.
The crisis deepened after Kuwaiti authorities last week ordered Manila’s envoy to leave the country over videos of Philippine embassy staff helping workers in Kuwait flee allegedly abusive employers.
The two nations had been negotiating a labor deal that Philippine officials said could result in the lifting of the ban, but the recent escalation in tensions has put an agreement in doubt.
“The ban stays permanently. There will be no more recruitment for especially domestic helpers. No more,” Duterte told reporters in his hometown of Davao.
There was no immediate response from Kuwait, where about 262,000 Filipinos are employed — nearly 60 percent of them as domestic workers, according to the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Philippines last week apologized over the rescue videos, but Kuwaiti officials announced they were expelling Manila’s ambassador and recalling their own envoy.
Kuwait also detained four Filipinos hired by the Philippine embassy and issued arrest warrants against three diplomatic personnel, Manila said.
Duterte yesterday described the treatment of workers in Kuwait as a “calamity.”
He said he would bring home maids who suffered abuse as he appealed to workers who wanted to stay in the oil-rich state.
“I would like to address to their patriotism: Come home. No matter how poor we are, we will survive. The economy is doing good and we are short of our workers,” he said.
Duterte lashed out at Kuwait in February, alleging Arab employers routinely rape Filipina workers, force them to work 21 hours a day and feed them scraps.
However, Duterte on Saturday used a conciliatory tone as he addressed the “diplomatic ruckus.”
“Apparently it seems as if they have anger against Filipinos... I do not want to send [workers] because apparently you do not like Filipinos,” he said in a speech before Filipinos in Singapore. “Just do not hurt them. I plead that they’d be given a treatment deserving of a human being.”
Duterte said workers returning from Kuwait could find employment as English teachers in China, adding that he was not after “vengeance.”
“I’d address myself to the Kuwait government and the people: Thank you for helping my countrymen all these years. It is a debt of gratitude that after all you were able to help. So I have no anger, no hatred,” he said.
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