97 OFWs from Kuwait to arrive home Monday

Ninety-seven repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Kuwait will arrive in Manila on Monday morning, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Sunday. Most of the workers left their employers for various reasons and sought refuge at the government-run Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) where they stayed for three to eight months, a DFA statement said. According to Philippine Ambassador Shulan Primavera, Kuwaiti immigration authorities waived the usual exit or repatriation requirements through representations made by the Embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office there. Kuwaiti authorities also shouldered the repatriates’ plane fares, the DFA said. The DFA said the usual deportation procedure requires the OFWs from FWRC to be surrendered to the local police first. The police will then summon the workers’ employers, who will then be required to surrender the workers’ passports. The workers’ visa will also be canceled and authorities will produce their plane tickets. Primavera said the 97 were spared from that process. “Our OFWs were spared from being placed at the deportation center where they could have stayed for more than three months. It can even be longer if the sponsor refuses to cooperate with the police," Primavera said. - Jerrie M. Abella/KBK, GMANews.TV