KUWAIT CITY, May 31: The Ministry of the Interior has decided to deport 302 Filipinos, after it evacuated a shelter affiliated to the Philippines embassy in Kuwait which housed 462 Overseas Filipino Workers in the Al-Surra area, and moved to the Kuwait government shelter in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, where their data was checked and 232 of them were ordered to be deported while 150 others remain in detention center because there are travel restrictions against them, reports Al-Rai daily. Security sources told the daily that the eviction process took place yesterday in coordination between the Public Authority for Manpower and the Residency Affairs Investigations Department after informing the Philippine embassy. The house where the OFWs where sheltered is rented by the embassy in violation of laws and regulations, because living inside the house were domestic workers who had fled from their sponsors.

The Ministry of Interior, according to reliable sources, is currently holding 150 Filipinos in the PAM shelter due to cases registered against them, ranging from criminal, misdemeanor, and labor disputes, and cooperation will be sought from the Ministry of Justice and PAM to complete deportation formalities. The sources added, the Ministry has made every effort to provide health care and logistical services for the Filipino labor in accordance with what is stipulated in international agreements and taking into account humanitarian standards.

The sources indicated that the travel procedures for the batch of 232 OFWs of whom are 223 women and 9 men, will soon be completed in coordination with the Philippine embassy, and they will be deported to Manila in batches starting from Thursday. The sources added there were 70 Filipino OFWs already living in the PAM shelter, and they will be deported separately, on Saturday, June 3, after completing their procedures and booking tickets for them. The security sources have called on all embassies to abide by the Kuwaiti laws saying “no embassy has the right to establish special shelters for its workers fl eeing from their sponsors.”