Following the developments on the suspension of workers’ deployment in Kuwait that had been in effect since Jan 19, the Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) had officially announced last Feb. 12 that there will be a total labour ban on the Gulf State.
The decision was based on the Administrative Order No. 54 issued by Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello III as directed by President Rodrigo Duterte himself. The total ban was founded on the series of reports gathered by the government regarding the abuse and deaths of our kababayans in Kuwait.
DOLE Imposes Total Labour Ban on Kuwait
According to Labour Secretary Bello, the total labour ban may force the Kuwaiti government to sign the proposed memorandum which mandates the provision for the increased protection of OFWs in the country.
Secretary Bello, however, clarified that DOLE still has to look into the position of the returning OFWs and those vacationing in the country under the Balik Manggagawa program – as to whether or not they, too, will be affected by the Administrative Order.
Several hours before the total ban was enacted, the first group of repatriated OFWs arrived in Manila from Kuwait. About 377 Filipino workers who arrived by three commercial flight planes, were received by labour and foreign affair officers.
As per the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), there are about 10,000 more overstaying Filipinos in Kuwait who are expected to return under the Gulf state’s amnesty program.
With this recent development, the Kuwaiti government is now looking into all available diplomatic networks for the recruitment of household workers from other countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, and Vietnam in the soonest time possible, according to the report of the Minister of Commerce and Industry.
Here’s a Video on the Recent Developments on the Labour Ban in Kuwait
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