KUWAIT CITY, May 2: Philippine Labour Attache David Des Dicang disclosed to the Arab Times on Wednesday that the Kuwait Immigration authorities are ready to accept distressed Filipino workers who are temporarily housed at the Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC) with absconding cases to facilitate their repatriation to the Philippines.

Dicang and Philippine Welfare Officer Norlita Lugtu met on Monday with Col Najem Al-Kader of the Department of Investigation at the Kuwait Immigration Office who expressed the department’s utmost assistance to expedite the repatriation of the wards at the FWRC.

Currently, there are 244 wards at the FWRC in Jabriya who were victims of various forms of abuses in the hands of their employers who sought refuge at the Philippine Overseas Labour Office and await repatriation to the Philippines.

“There are 55 of the 244 FWRC wards who have absconding cases but there may be more of them depending on the outcome of the fingerprint process which is set for next week,” explained Dicang. He added that the Immigration Office will be compelling the sponsors of the distressed workers to shoulder the return tickets of their Household Service Worker (HSW) or face blacklisting.

Dicang also announced the approval of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour of the allocation of repatriation tickets of distressed OFWs at the FWRC. This was relayed to Dicang and Lugtu during their meeting on Monday with Brig. Gen. Abdullah Awad Al Ali, the Director of the Office of Domestic Workers Affairs (ODWA) at the Ministry of Interior. “We have submitted immediately 50 names of runaway workers without any travel ban case(s) to be issued air tickets for their repatriation on normal flights within the following week depending on airline booking availability,” he informed.

Dicang added that Al Ali informed them that the new shelter facility for runaway workers at Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh will be in full operation by July 1 this year.  The facility which covers a very broad area of around 10,000 square metres with a large cafeteria, office spaces, toilets and bathrooms, open garden field for fitness programs and spacious rooms to accommodate more than 1,000 female distressed workers of all nationalities. Currently, the temporary shelter for runaway domestic workers in Kheitan which has been operating since 2007 can accommodate only 60 workers at a given time. The facility reportedly will function as a ‘one-stop-shop’ where the ministries of Health, Interior, Justice, Social Affairs and Labor will hold offices.

“The new shelter facility shall be addressing cases of runaway household workers either by settling disputes amicably or to pursue cases against abusive employers. The center shall also take the necessary steps within a reasonable period for the repatriation of workers to their home countries,” outlined Dicang.  He lauded the Kuwait government for its continuous efforts in solving cases of runaway maids and measures in improving the plight of domestic workers in the country.

“We would like to thank the host government especially the Kuwait Immigration authorities and ODWA for their continued assistance to us in making the repatriation process of our distressed workers easier and faster,” stated Dicang who vowed to bring down the number of wards at the FWRC in cooperation with the Assistance to the Nationals Unit at the Philippine Embassy and with the help of the Kuwaiti Immigration authorities.

Meanwhile, the Memor-andum of Understanding (MoU) between the Kuwait government and the Philippine government on the Coope-ration in the Recruitment and Employment of Filipino Household Service Workers (HSWs) is still pending for signature between the two governments. The MoU when signed by both countries provides areas of cooperation on organizing the recruitment and employment of household service workers according to applicable laws; protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of household service workers according to applicable laws; exchanging information and studies on household service workers and any other human resource cooperation related to the MoU.