The latest Filipina victim of a violent death in Kuwait reminds the government that deployment of Household Service Workers (HSWs) to Kuwait should be evaluated if our OFWs are safe in that country.
The discovery of the burned body in the desert of Julliebe Narana last weekend by the Kuwaiti Police is another black eye in the relations between the Philippines and Kuwait.
The death of Jubilee Narana recalls the deaths of two Filipinas Johanna Demafelisin in 2018 whose body was found in an apartment freezer and Jenellyn Villavende whose body was brought home to Manila and was reportedly abused by her employer. According to Kuwait Police officials, however, further autopsy revealed Villavende was sexually abused.
Demafelis’s employers — Nader Essam Assaf and his wife, Mona Hassoun — reportedly fled Kuwait after the discovery of their maid’s body, triggering an Interpol manhunt. They were later arrested in Syria. Assaf, a Lebanese national, was taken to Beirut, while Hassoun was held in Damascus Mona Hassoun was hanged in s Syria for this crime while the husband remains in Lebanon.
Recruit consultant and migration expert Manny Gesni suggests that the Department of Migrant Worker (DMW) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) evaluate the present situation in Kuwait for our OFWs if a limited deployment should be implemented to stem the tide of distressed workers in Kuwait.
The government should take a deeper look into the deployment of Household Service Workers as the number of Filipina maids continue to seeking shelter at the Welfare Centers in Kuwait.
Despite an employment contract forged in 2018 by DOLE and the Kuwaiti officials that guarantied the rights of the workers some Kuwaiti employers violate the contract by not following the working hours of 12 hours daily
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Arnel Ignacio has also recommended the limited deployment to Kuwait with the arrival of 102 HSWs 2nd batch of domestic workers from the 300 expected to be repatriated from Kuwait by the DMW and OWWA.
Admin Ignacio while in Kuwait donned an Arab traditional clothing for men (dishdasha) said that 20-25 maids arrive daily at the Welfare Centers adding to the huge number of HSWs that sought refuge from their employers and seeking repatriation to Manila.
Serious overcrowding in the Welfare Centers operated by OWWA have led to this dire situation for our OFWs who have expressed their desire to return home after their arbitration hearings with their FRAs (Foreign Recruitment Agencies) and their employers were not resolved by the POLOs on site.
Most of the HSWs complaints range from maltreatment, verbal or physical abuse, delayed salaries, poor working conditions, sexual harassment and violations of their employment contract.
There was a surge in deployment of HSWs to Kuwait in 2022 when the Saudi domestic market was temporarily banned from November, 2021 by former DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III on reported abuses of maids by Saudi employers.
Recruitment agencies from CLADS shifted the bulk of their domestic helpers to Kuwait to offset their losses in the Saudi market.
There are over 180,000 Filipina domestic helpers in Kuwait with the numbers increasing weekly however the continuous number of HSWs seeking shelter at OWWA Welfare Centers and leaves the question if the government should continue sending our Filipina women to Kuwait. (Baby Cuevas)
