Over 80 OFWs, kids from Kuwait repatriated Friday

Over 80 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and their children arrived in Manila Friday from Kuwait. Majority of the repatriated OFWs were domestic helpers who ran away from their employers due to alleged abuse and maltreatment, according to a report on GMA News’ “24 Oras" "Binugbog po ako ng amo ko dahil lang po sa tumawag ako dito sa Pilipinas. Allowed naman po ang [cell phone]. ‘Yun lang po ang dahilan," an unidentified OFW said in the report. (My employer beat me up because I called my family in the Philippines, even as the use of cellular phones is allowed. That was the only reason.)
In an earlier release, Labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said a total of 96 OFWs and nine children were scheduled to arrive on Friday in four separate flights. According to the DOLE, the first batch consisting of 71 OFWs and nine children will be coming on board a Gulf Air flight at 2:55 P.M.; eight OFWs will arrive on board a Kuwait Airlines flight at 4:30 P.M.; three OFWs will arrive on board a Singapore Airlines at 5:50 P.M.; and 14 OFWs will return on board an Etihad Airways flight at 10:25 P.M. "The 96 OFWs and the nine children have been sheltered at the Filipino Workers' Resource Center in Kuwait and our Philippine Overseas Labor Office there, headed by Labor Attache Vivo Vidal, has been working to repatriate them," Baldoz said in a statement posted on the DOLE website. She said the tickets of the OFWs and the children were provided by the recruitment agencies that deployed them, while their exit permits were facilitated by the Kuwait government. "We express our thanks to the Kuwait government for its assistance in facilitating the issuance of the OFWs’ exit clearances, and to the recruitment agencies for their close cooperation so that these OFWs can finally rejoin their families back in the Philippines," Baldoz said. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Carmelita Dimzon was at the airport to greet and assist the arriving OFWs. In the “24 Oras" report, Dimzon said employers decided not to file cases of absconding against the OFWs, even as they failed to finish their contracts. "Sa tulong din naman ng Kuwaiti government, dahil tumulong sila na makipag-negotiate sa mga employers. As a matter of fact, karamihan sa mga ito, nag-abscond sa mga employer nila," Dimzon said in the newscast. (It was also through the help of the Kuwaiti government, which helped negotiate with the employers. As a matter of fact, majority of these OFWs absconded from their employers.) She added domestic helpers in the Middle East are more prone to abuse and maltreatment due to differences in culture. "Alam mo naman ang culture sa Middle East, ibang-iba sa kultura natin dito. Maaring may culture shock din, saka yung pagbabago dun sa environment nila kung saan sila nagtatrabaho," Dimzon explained. (Middle East cultures are very much different from our culture here. Possibly there was culture shock, plus the change in the environment where they worked.) Despite recent news of labor violations and murder of at least two Filipinas there, Kuwait has been included in the list of countries were migrant workers can be safely deployed. (See: Kuwait, 9 other countries safe for OFWs, says DFA) In July 2010, two Filipinas were brutally murdered in Kuwait: one was tortured to death by her employer and then left in the desert, while the other was stabbed dead at least 31 times by her Egyptian husband allegedly in a fit of jealousy. (See: 2 Pinays brutally killed in Kuwait in two separate incidents) Recently, however, the Kuwaiti government has said it is scrapping in February this year its sponsorship system for foreign workers, which has been described as “modern slavery." (See: Kuwait to end sponsorship system for foreign workers)—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV