After a hiatus of more than one year, the Philippines will resume sending its new domestic workers to the country in early April, Al Jarida reported.
The meeting held yesterday between the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) and the labor attaché at the Philippine embassy, Nasser Mustafa, resulted in a breakthrough in the crisis that stopped the recruitment of new domestic workers.
Sources told the daily that the Labor Attaché informed the PAM officials that the Philippines will resume sending new domestic workers to Kuwait at the beginning of next April.
The sources indicated that the decision to resume recruitment came after the Kuwaiti and Filipino sides reached solutions to all pending problems that concern female workers, especially those currently housed in the shelter center.
Recruitment requests
Bassam Al-Shammari, an owner of a domestic labor recruitment company, said, that The Federation of Domestic Labor Export Offices in Manila informed the local offices of the Philippine embassy’s readiness in the country to receive new recruitment requests. The offices began submitting their requests to the embassy, pointing out that there are some conditions that Kuwaiti offices must fulfill before approving the applications. Conditions include the provision of adequate housing to host the workers until they are received by the employer, and that the office secretariat should not be a domestic worker who holds Article (22) of the residency law, but is registered in the private sector. Article (18).
Al-Shammari explained to the daily that, upon instructions from the Philippine embassy, local offices have begun to count the female workers brought in with the knowledge of the offices and assets in the country now, and contact them, to ensure that they are not subjected to any problems or harassment from the employer and that they receive their dues monthly without delay. In addition to ensuring that they are not forced to work for long periods.
105 cases of human trafficking referred to the competent authorities
The Permanent National Committee for the Preparation of Reports and Follow-up of Recommendations Related to Human Rights launched its first voluntary report to the United Nations on the national progress made in implementing the goals of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.
The report indicated that during the last two year, the Department for Regulating the Recruitment of Domestic Workers, in the Public Authority for Manpower, has referred 105 cases to the competent authorities, on suspicion of human trafficking, and the administration also suspended 45 domestic labor offices for violating the provisions of Law (2015/68) regarding the regulation of labor recruitment.
The administration recovered 250 domestic workers’ passports and referred 113 complaints of passport detention to the judiciary.