Kuwait has lifted its ban on issuing entry and work visas to nationals of the Philippines, which had been in place for over a year.
Through a recent statement issued on X, the Ministry of Interior – State of Kuwait announced that the country will now permit the recruitment of experienced Filipino domestic workers who have previously worked abroad, VisaGuide.World reports.
The two sides agreed to establish a joint technical working committee composed of the competent authorities in both countries, which will meet periodically to address employment-related issues and address all concerns that may arise in the future.
In 2018, the Philippines and Kuwait signed a labour agreement to regulate domestic workers, the “Domestic Workers Employment Agreement’, when a dispute between these countries led to a two-month diplomatic crisis.
In 2020, the Philippines reinstated a ban on its citizens going to work in Kuwait after a Filipina woman was allegedly killed by her employer.
In May last year, Kuwait imposed a complete ban on the recruitment of workers from the Philippines, while also canceled the issuance of all types of visas to Filipinos following another spat between the two countries over the killing of a Filipino maid.
In 2023 Philippines Banned Deploying First-Time Domestic Workers in Kuwait
In February of the same year, the Philippines imposed a ban on the placement of domestic workers for the first time in Kuwait in protest against the killing of 26-year-old Jullebee Ranara after her body was found burned in the desert.
After the investigations, authorities discovered that the woman in question was pregnant. Police also arrested her 17-year-old employer’s son, who was later sentenced to 16 years in prison because he was a minor.
Previously, VisaGuide.World reported that Philippine nationals represent almost six percent of the population of Kuwait, which accounts for some 282,000 inhabitants, while Kuwaitis represent 32 percent of its 4.7 million population.
Top Popular Overseas Workers in Kuwait
Among the most common nationalities that move to Kuwait are as follows:
- Egyptians (660,000 workers)
- Palestinians (70,000)
- Saudis (540,773)
- Indians (one million)
Moreover, the Philippines Statistics Authority revealed that of the estimated 1.96 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) abroad in 2022, 1.13 million (57.8 percent) were female.
The Philippine Central Bank data showed personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers amounted to $37.2 billion in 2023, up by three percent from $36.1 billion in 2022.