EDITORIAL - OFW safety foremost of all

Outraged by Kuwait’s stopping of issuing new entry visas to Overseas Filipinos Workers as well as its continued abuses against them, a lawmaker proposed a total ban on OFWs to Kuwait.

“It pains me to see OFWs being abused more so slaughtered by people whom they selflessly served. This barbaric act against our OFWs should be condemned by humanity and the entire international community... This total deployment ban must be enforced until the Kuwaiti government sits down with our officials and agree to our demands. Until then, we should not entertain their demands and acts of intimidation,” Pangasinan 3rd District Rep. Rachel Arenas said in a report in Philstar.com.

Until now we aren’t sure why Kuwait suspended the issuing of new entry visas to Filipinos, but according to sources it has to do with the Philippine Embassy giving shelter to OFWs who allegedly became victims of abuse from their employers. Arenas herself thinks it is to coerce the Philippine government to lift its deployment ban on first-time household Filipino workers to Kuwait.

There are pros and cons to a total OFW ban, but let’s mention the most important ones. One the one hand, a total OFW ban will show how seriously we are taking this issue. That we are willing to withhold a sector that contributes to Kuwait’s economy and workforce. It is a serious tit for Kuwait’s tat in ceasing issuing entry visas for Filipinos.

On the other hand, a total OFW ban will also include those OFWs working in Kuwait in sectors that don’t see abuse at all. At least none that reach Philippine authorities, anyway. And because we have over 275,000 OFWs working in Kuwait we have to assume that not all of them work in the household worker sector which sees the bulk of such abuses.

With that said, as mentioned in an earlier editorial about OFWs in Kuwait, the protection of our workers must come first. We must not be forced or pressured into any compromise when it comes to protecting our workers, especially not from a Gulf state that has trouble keeping promises.

We pray our lawmakers come to the right decision regarding this issue.