Coinciding with the arrival of the first batch of Filipino domestic workers to Kuwait in the middle of this month, Bassam Al-Shammari, a specialist in domestic workers’ affairs (and owner of a recruitment company), revealed the arrival of a new batch of these workers to the country tomorrow, including about 50 female workers, and he indicated that the wheel has turned, and dozens are being brought in successively from Manila.
The second batch of Domestic Worker/ – Image from Al Jarida
He pointed out that they will be received after completing the procedures for their entry, then they will be transferred to the Philippine Embassy, where the Labor Attaché at the Embassy, Atty. Manuel Dimao, will receive and welcome them, and provide them with a quick explanation of the nature of the work they will be doing, while informing them of their rights and duties guaranteed by Law No. 68 of 2015, issued regarding domestic workers.
Al-Shammari told Al-Jarida that “the successive arrival of new batches of Filipino workers is creating a breakthrough in the domestic labor market, which has been suffering for years from a shortage of countries exporting this labor that Kuwait deals with, in light of the absence of memoranda of understanding with new countries and states, and the inability of any other nationality to fill the large void left by Filipino workers since the decision to ban their recruitment.
He pointed out that the number of Filipino domestic workers in the Kuwaiti market is estimated at about 200,000 workers, representing 50 percent of the total number of domestic workers in the country of various nationalities, “which confirms the importance of this labor force to most Kuwaiti and expatriate families, who prefer to use its services for several reasons, most notably ease of communication, good educational level, and knowledge of the customs and traditions of society.
Al-Shammari added: “There is a decline in the complaints of some local offices about the slow approval and completion of their transactions by the Philippine Embassy in the country, in light of the keenness of embassy officials to expedite the offices’ procedures to approve the initial work contracts, known as “JOB ORDER”, which increases the number of applications that are currently suffering from a shortage, due to the Philippines allowing the export of only experienced workers who have previously worked in Kuwait or the Gulf States or any other countries, without new ones which are not included in the recruitment at the present time.
Source: Aljarida
