Solon: OFWs from Kuwait can be redeployed to other countries

“Outside of Kuwait, we have far bigger labor markets in other parts of the Middle East and elsewhere that offer better protection for our workers,” Pimentel said. (PNA photo)

MANILA – A legislator on Monday said overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait who decide to heed President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s call for them to return home can be redeployed to other countries.

In a statement, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said foreign labor markets for Filipinos in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates are thrice as large than Kuwait’s, while other alternatives include Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

“Outside of Kuwait, we have far bigger labor markets in other parts of the Middle East and elsewhere that offer better protection for our workers,” Pimentel said.

“In any labor market, what is important is that the jobseekers must have the skills that they can sell to employers,” he added.

Pimentel said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment should provide “new and improved competencies” for returning domestic workers from Kuwait.

An estimated 260,000 OFWs are working in Kuwait, including 700 Filipinos now facing various charges and have sought refuge in the embassy shelter.

Of the total number of Filipinos there, about 150,000 are household service workers.

President Duterte has made permanent the ban on the OFW deployment to Kuwait amid the diplomatic spat between the Philippines and the Gulf state.

“No. The ban stays permanently. There will be no more recruitment for — especially domestic helpers. Wala na (No more),” the President said in a press briefing at Davao International Airport upon his arrival on Sunday from Singapore, where he attended the 32nd ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting.

Duterte vowed to get back all those who want to come home using available funds or the funds given by China. If money is not enough, Duterte said he would use emergency funds. “To me this is a calamity,” he told reporters.

“Please come home. Kahit mahirap tayo, mabubuhay pa rin tayo (Even if we are poor, we will still survive),” he said.

He assured there are available jobs here with the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.

ACTS-OFW Ancieto Bertiz III backed President Duterte’s appeal for Filipinos in Kuwait to come home, noting that the problem concerns mainly domestic workers who are not covered by Kuwait’s labor laws.

“In the case of professionals in Kuwait, there’s really no problem because they are protected by their skills. Employers avoid mistreating highly skilled staff because they are difficult to replace,” Bertiz said.

“But in the case of domestic workers, we really have to discourage their deployment to countries where they have little or no legal protection,” he added.

Bertiz said without adequate legal protection, domestic workers are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation since they live with their employers and their skills are easily replaceable.