KUWAIT CITY, May 13: The firm measures taken by Kuwait recently, driven by popular support, to stop granting any visas to Filipino workers, and restricting entry only to those who have a valid residence permit is beginning to bear fruit before the upcoming joint committee meeting, reports Al-Rai daily. Primarily, a delegation from the Philippine Ministry of Labor was scheduled to visit Kuwait from May 16 to 18 to attend the joint committee meeting on the thorny issue of employment, and now it has been reported that the government in the Philippines has now decided to replace the members of the delegation which now will comprise of officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, according to what the diplomatic sources told Al-Rai daily.

The sources indicated the mission of the Philippine delegation is to try to bridge the gap that has widened between the two countries, after talks faltered regarding resolving the problem of recruiting workers from Manila, noting that after Kuwait’s decision to stop visas for the Filipinos, “the issue has returned to square one.” The labor file now will be dealt with by officials from the foreign ministries of the two countries since “there are matters that were not clear or well understood by both parties with regard to labor rights.” The labor sources said that “the large number of requests from the Filipino side under the pretext of ensuring the well-being of its workers led to worsening the situation,” pointing out that “most of the requests that were raised were exaggerated and showed Manila’s lack of commitment to the bilateral agreement signed with Kuwait regarding employment.

The sources drew the attention to the broad popular support for the directives of the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and Acting Minister of Defense Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled to stop visas for Filipino workers, and to demand that no concessions be made in the face of the Filipino side’s attempts to achieve undeserved gains for its workers at the expense of citizens and employers. In an indication that Manila has begun to ease its conditions and the high ceiling it has set since its decision to stop sending workers to Kuwait last February, Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Paul Raymund Cortes told CNN in the Philippines that his country is committed to resolving any issues with Kuwait in an “amicable manner,” saying the two countries enjoy “very friendly” relations. Cortes added, “We are confident that we will be able to find a mutually satisfactory solution to any issues we feel is necessary to discuss with Kuwait.”

Meanwhile, the Kuwait International Airport prevented 25 Filipinos from entering Kuwait in implementation of the decision to stop issuing visas for Filipino nationals and allow entry only to those who have valid residence permit. The ban includes also newcomers who were earlier issued entry visas, reports Al-Rai daily. The daily said a majority of those who were barred entry were domestic workers.

The sources said that this comes in implementation of the instructions of the Ministry of Interior to the General Directorate of Civil Aviation not to accept any passenger of the Filipino nationality even if he had a prior visa, and to allow only those who have a valid residency in Kuwait. Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi confirmed that the ministry has informed the Philippines about the decision to suspend the issuance of all types of visas for Filipinos, reports Al-Qabas daily.

In a statement to the daily during the Independence Day celebration at the Embassy of Bangladesh on Thursday, Al-Otaibi disclosed: “The notification given to the Philippines is based on the directive of First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior and acting Minister of Defense Sheikh Talal Al-Khalid to stop granting all types of visas for Filipinos.” Earlier, the Ministry of Interior issued a circular to the Director General of Civil Aviation “to stop the entry of Filipino passengers even if they obtained a visa prior to the issuance of the directive and only those with valid residency will be allowed to enter the country.” In a related development, sources from Kuwait International Airport said any foreigner who violates entry related procedures, decisions and circulars will be deported by the same airline that transported them here