Illegal OFWs in Kuwait have until April 30 to avail of amnesty

As early as March 25, the Kuwait government funded the repatriation of residency visa violators, covering OFWs whose visas expired before March 1, 2020, and those with existing absconding cases. (File Photo By Patrick Roque, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

MANILA – The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait on Thursday advised undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to avail of the amnesty program ending on April 30.

As early as March 25, the Kuwait government funded the repatriation of residency visa violators, covering OFWs whose visas expired before March 1, 2020, and those with existing absconding cases.

“Today is actually the last so we continue to assist all undocumented Filipinos in Kuwait. To those who have not applied yet, today is the last day, the guidelines are all over the news and the page of the Embassy,” Charge d’ Affaires to Kuwait Charleson Hermosura said during the Laging Handa briefing.

A total of 2,017 Filipinos, including the non-amnesty repatriates, have returned to the Philippines since the program was announced.

Based on embassy estimates, there are approximately 12,000 undocumented Filipinos in the Gulf state.

Since the measures to stop the spread of coronavirus were implemented in Kuwait, Hermosura noted that most OFWs were displaced while the others were affected by the no work, no pay arrangement.

In the past few days, the embassy had been providing food packs and processing the financial assistance for the affected Filipinos.

There are around 3,440 Covid-19 cases in Kuwait, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization. Of this number, 51 are Filipinos, two of whom have succumbed to the disease.