$600m OFW remittances at stake over deployment ban counter-move
The Philippines stands to lose about $600 million (about P33.5 billion) in remittances by its overseas workers in Kuwait annually after the Middle Eastern state imposed an entry ban on all Filipinos, except those with an “iqama” or residence permit.
The ban was imposed supposedly because the Philippines failed to comply with a labor agreement between the two countries.
Data obtained by Manila Standard from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Friday showed that cash remittances from Filipinos working in the Gulf state reached $597.186 million in 2022, 3.7 percent higher than the year before, and accounted for 1.8 percent of total remittances by OFWs last year that reached $32.54 billion.
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Cortes told CNN Philippines that the ban took effect May 10 and covers Filipinos, even those issued with visas, who are entering Kuwait.
Earlier reports from GMA News TV said Filipinos already on their way to Kuwait have been kept from boarding their flights following the country’s suspension of their visas.
About 3,000 workers headed to Kuwait are stranded in the Philippines owing to the ban, while those already in the Gulf state were saddened by the development, ABS-CBN reported last night.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said the ban was a way to pressure the Philippines into lifting its deployment ban on first-time Filipino household workers Kuwait following the murder of 35-year-old Jullebee Ranara, whose burned remains were left in a desert in Kuwait by the 17-year-old son of her employer, who confessed to killing her.
The deployment ban was imposed in February to obtain guaranteed protection for Filipino household workers in Kuwait.
De Vega said Kuwait’s response to the ban was to “expand” the non-deployment of Filipinos to all other workers, aside from household workers.
“What Kuwait is saying is: well, we won’t take other workers then. So that was obviously their response and some measure of pressure, shall we say, for the Philippines to reconsider its decision,” De Vega said in a television interview.
De Vega said the effect of the entry ban would not be massive. There are 275,000 to 300,000 Filipinos in Kuwait, almost all of whom have residency. About 5,000 to 10,000 are undocumented, he added.
The DFA official noted there have been two recurring issues the Kuwaiti government is concerned about pertaining to the bilateral labor agreement of both countries.
These are an initiative to set up a shelter for runaway Filipino household workers and the effort to reach out to Kuwaiti employers over reports of abuses.
De Vega said these efforts have been identified by Kuwait as violations of its labor laws.
“They say, under Kuwaiti law, there should not be a shelter forrunaway workers but then again under Philippine law, we have to have those shelters and of course it is the obligation of the Philippine government to protect them,” he said.
“We are not encouraging them to escape from their employers,” he said.
“But in case of abuses and they have to leave, then they have to have a place to go to.”
De Vega said the second issue they were complaining about was that whenever there is a complaint about labor abuse, the Philippine government asks the worker’s foreign placement agency in Kuwait to contact the employer, which is also not allowable under Kuwaiti law.
While these issues are referred to by Kuwait as violations, these are “not clearly defined in the agreement (between Kuwait and the Philippines),” De Vega said.
De Vega said Kuwait was not sending home those who are already there, and those who are visiting the Philippines can still return, as long as they have a Kuwait civil residence ID. But Kuwait is not issuing new visas to Filipinos.
He said Filipino authorities would fight for the interests of Filipino workers in talks this month or June.
“Now, this is up to our people, do we lift the deployment ban while Ranara’s case is not yet resolved? Will we lift the ban while giving in to Kuwait’s demands?” De Vega said in Filipino, adding that this could last several months.
De Vega said the decision to lift the ban will still have to bediscussed by concerned agencies, including the DFA and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).
“We have meetings today. We hope to engage the Congress as well, (and then) eventually give recommendations to the President,” he said.
De Vega said the Philippines “won’t just lift the ban just like that,”as the country is still seeking justice for Ranara.
There will be meetings with Kuwaiti officials this month.
Remittances from Kuwait declined at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching $580 million in 2020 and $576 million in 2021. In 2016, cash remittances from Kuwait hit a record $856 million.
Last year, cash remittances from all Filipinos abroad rose 3.6 percent to a record $32.54 billion from $31.42 billion a year ago on sustained demand for skilled Filipino workers overseas. The full-yearremittances growth, however, missed the official target of 4 percent earlier set by the Bangko Sentral.
The growth in cash remittances from the United States, Saudi Arabia,Singapore, Qatar, and United Kingdom contributed largely to the increase in remittances from January to December 2022. In terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances in 2022, followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
For the month of December alone, cash remittances coursed through banks grew by 5.8 percent to an all-time high, on a monthly basis, of $3.16 billion from $2.99 billion a year ago due to the growth in receipts from land- and sea-based workers.
Philippine remittances from overseas workers have consistently been the fourth largest in the world after India, China, and Mexico, amounting to about $35 billion per year in 2020, a sign of resilience despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Philippines has been among the biggest suppliers of nurses around the world, accounting for at least 20 percent of the total globally.
The Philippines has also been the biggest supplier of seafarers worldwide, accounting for about 20 percent to 25 percent of the total around the world.
An official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said officials are discussing what should be the best response to Kuwait’s suspension of entry and work visas for Filipinos.
The Kuwait Directorate General of Civil Aviation on May 10 ordered airport personnel to bar Filipinos from entering the country, except for those who are Kuwait residents.
The chairperson of Migrante, Arman Hernando, said the DFA and DMW must act swiftly to find out what the country’s alleged labor agreement violations are.
This is also a good time to see how both the Philippine and Kuwait are complying with agreements to protect migrant workers, Hernando said.
Kuwait hosts from 275,000 to 300,000 Filipinos, most of them household workers while some are in the hotel, restaurant, and healthcare industries, De Vega said.
The DFA said the Philippines remained committed to resolving bilateral issues “in an amicable manner.”
“In the case of Kuwait, we are confident that with our friendly relations and strong people-to-people links, we shall be able to find a mutually satisfactory solution that will take into account the need to provide maximum protection and access to justice for all our nationals working in the country,” the agency said.
The DMW issued a statement vowing to continue pursuing the track of labor diplomacy to ensure the welfare and safety of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), while awaiting more details as to why the Kuwaiti government imposed the entry ban.
“We are working closely with the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait in a unified, whole-of-government approach to the situation,” the agency said.
“We are also coordinating with our Philippine recruitment agencies, Filipino communities and leaders, and other stakeholders on how to address this development in the best interest of all concerned.”
The DMW urged Kuwait-bound workers to contact its National Reintegration Center for OFWs.
Kabayan Rep. Ron Salo, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on overseas workers affairs, demanded an explanation from DMW Secretary Maria Susana Ople as to what violation had triggered Kuwait’s action.
News outlet Kuwaiti Times reported that according to the Ministry of the Interior of Kuwait, the suspension reportedly was due to the Philippines having not “complied with the provisions of the labor agreement between the two countries.”
“I am calling on the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to immediately seek clarification on this alleged violation,” Salo said in a statement Friday.
“We need to find out what exactly is the violation so we can immediately take the appropriate action in addressing the same for the welfare of our OFWs already in Kuwait and those expecting to be deployed there,” Salo added.
He also appealed to the DMW to establish an office within the department specifically tasked with engaging concerned officials of other countries on the implementation of the country’s bilateral agreements. So that the Philippines is not “blindsided by sudden impositions like this.”