The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has started implementing the government ban on the deployment of newly hired domestic workers to Kuwait.
BI port operations chief Grifton Medina said immigration officers in the different international ports have been instructed to strictly enforce the ban imposed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE).
Medina said the ban applies to all newly hired household service workers (HSWs) recruited for deployment to the said Middle Eastern emirate.
He explained that departing Kuwaiti-bound HSWs whose overseas employment certificates were issued prior to the cut-off date of Jan. 3, 2020 will be allowed to leave.
It was learned that BI implemented the ban after the bureau received a copy of a Jan. 3 resolution from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) ordering a partial deployment ban of Filipino domestic workers to Kuwait following the murder of househelper by her employer.
Medina likewise warned entities attempting to circumvent the ban, stressing “our system is integrated with that of POEA, hence we would be able to verify outright OFW’s status,” he said.
Meanwhile, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said they are ready to implement any changes in OFW deployment, should the Department of Foreign Affairs or DoLE imposes ban to Iraq and Iran.
The BI chief issued the statement as the United States and Iran are getting ready for possible military confrontation following the killing of a popular Syrian general by the former. (Jun Ramirez)
