101 more OFWs from Kuwait arrive Wednesday

FILE (PNA photo)

MANILA — A total of 101 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Kuwait were scheduled to return home in two batches on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Thirty-seven OFWs arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the afternoon via Etihad Airways flight EY 424. Another batch with 64 OFWs is scheduled to arrive late evening via Etihad Airways flight EY 428.

The Philippine government had imposed a deployment ban on Kuwait since February, due to reports that the OFWs there are being abused and maltreated.

One of them, Joanna Demafelis, a domestic worker, was killed and was found in a freezer. Her employers were considered the main suspects.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has tasked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment to work on the OFWs’ repatriation.

The DFA said more than 3,400 OFWs in Kuwait had already been repatriated since February, including those scheduled to arrive Wednesday.

Two local carriers, the Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific, have also been helping the government’s repatriation efforts by mounting special flights and providing free flights for the returning OFWs.