Kuwait accuses Filipino diplomats of kidnapping

Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday said that the Kuwaiti government charged officials and staff of the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait with kidnapping.

In the latest development of the diplomatic standoff between the Philippines and Kuwait, three Filipino diplomats and some staff of the Philippine embassy who were embroiled in the rescue mission of distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were accused by Kuwait of taking OFWs from the homes of their employers.

The Foreign Secretary, despite admitting that three of the 38 rescue missions were not coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities, maintained that the Philippines did not commit any violations.

“It has been our argument from the start that there is no violation of any conventions, there was no crime, etc.,” Cayetano said.

He defended, “The three we believed needed to be acted upon immediately, we did it ourselves which is acceptable and is a duty under international law.”

The spat between the Philippines and Kuwait emerged while the countries were negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding that will protect and promote the welfare of OFWs in Kuwait.

The memorandum was Kuwait’s answer to the deployment ban the Philippines imposed against the Gulf state due to the prevalence of OFW abuse and violence in the country.

The content was written for Philippine Canadian Inquirer’s Daily News Round-Up, May 5, 2018 edition