Kuwait suspends all work, entry visas for Filipinos

Filipinos

All types of work and entry visas for Filiipinos have been suspended in Kuwait, according to local media quoting sources from the Gulf country's interior ministry.

The decision was taken because the Philippines reportedly failed to comply with the labour agreement between the two countries, the report added.

“The Philippines has breached the conditions and provisions of the labour agreement," sources were quoted as saying in a Kuwait Times report.

The Southeast Asian country's embassy in Kuwait, however, said it has not yet received a notice about the decision on visa suspension.

In February 2023, the Philippines issued a decision suspending the deployment of first-time overseas employees to Kuwait, following the killing of household worker Jullebee Ranara, whose charred remains were found in a Kuwaiti desert. Her employer's 17-year-old son had been detained in connection with the case.

Diplomats from the Philippines and Kuwait planned to hold a dialogue following the deployment ban. Talks were supposed to be held in the form of a joint committee meeting, which was created under the two states' 2018 agreement on the employment of domestic workers, according to a report on the state-run Philippine News Agency.

The Philippine Embassy earlier said Kuwait had “expressed disappointment” over the Department of Migrant Workers’ (DMW) decision and conveyed Kuwait’s desire to resolve the matter “as soon as possible", the PNA added.