The new agreement between Philippines and Kuwait has become a cause of speculations among OFWs in Kuwait. This agreement of mutually accepted terms has triggered a lot of arguments.
Giving reference to the domestic worker deployment ban of 2018, following the death of 29 years old Filipina Joanna Demafelis and increasing incidents of abuse against Filipina maids; A Filipina said that this contract is bogus and would not benefit them “This agreement is just writing, all clauses emphasized already exist in The domestic Worker law since 2010 and yet not being implemented”.
Whereas some OFW are optimistic and are ready to work as a housemaid and have an opinion that “Not all the employers are bad.”
The sanction for household service workers (Kuwait Visa-20) includes that employer will allow the domestic worker to own a phone and use it after working hours, provided that he/she maintains the family’s secrets and privacy in a manner consistent with public morals. Another clause prevents the employer from assigning the domestic worker any work outside Kuwait without her consent, and if forced, the sponsor is obliged to return her to her country at his own expense. The seventh clause in the agreement also stipulates that the employer will not retain the worker’s passport and civil ID.
Some Filipinos argue that this contract has similar clauses as to that in the earlier contract and demands that the working hours should also be specified.
But the question remains, will the new contract stop the domestic abuse of Filipino workers?
The new clause that has caused turmoil, prevents the Philippines embassy in Kuwait from harboring Filipino domestic helpers at its premises in future. Instead, the embassy would be obliged to report all such workers to the domestic workers’ employment department at the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM). To this, A Filipino feels unsafe and said that “Embassy soil is said to sovereign soil, so why is it Kuwait’s concern that who is on the soil”.
