289 OFWs arrive from Kuwait amid crackdown vs. illegal migrants

MANILA – A total of 289 overseas Filipino workers from Kuwait returned to the country Tuesday evening after they were brought home by the national government through the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW).

The repatriated OFWs arrived at about 9 p.m. via Philippine Airlines (PAL) chartered flight PR 8764 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 and were welcomed by Deputy Administrator Arnell Ignacio of the DMW-Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

The DMW said Kuwaiti authorities apprehended the OFWs over the past months as part of an ongoing crackdown targeting overstaying migrant workers, including those who ran away from their employers.

DMW Secretary Susan “Toots” Ople said 245 of the deportees came from the Kuwaiti Deportation Center.

Among them are three pregnant women, three medical cases, five mothers and children, and from other wards.

The DMW-OWWA will assist the deported OFWs through the post-repatriation process, including psycho-social counseling, stress debriefing, and medical referrals if needed.

They are currently staying in temporary shelters while transportation to their respective provinces is being arranged.

Meanwhile, Ople said the National Reintegration Center for OFWs (NRCO) will assist the repatriated OFWs with their reintegration needs.

“I have given instructions to the NRCO to assess the needs of the repatriated workers and extend the necessary assistance for
them to begin a new and better chapter in life,” Ople said.

Venecio Legaspi of the DMW Transition Committee said the repatriation of distressed OFWs is a priority of the department.

“Itong repatriation ay isa sa mga itinuturing na priority ng DMW dahil na din sa pagkakasabi ng ating Pangulo doon sa SONA niya na ang mga OFW ay kailangan nating pangalagaan at kailangan nating bigyan ng kanilang sariling tahanan kaya nga nandiyan ang DMW with Secretary Toots Ople (Repatriation is one of the DMW’s priorities especially because our President mentioned in his State of the Nation Address that OFWs need to be taken care of and we need to give them their own home, that’s why the DMW is here with Secretary Toots Ople),” Legaspi said.