[hre-asiapacific] Government Should Assist 114 Stranded Filipino Workers in Kuwait

Press Release
June 22, 20005
Contact Person: Gi Estrada

Government Should Assist 114 Stranded Workers in Kuwait


We are appalled at the indifference being shown by the Philippine
government on the plight of 114 Filipino workers victimized by an illegal
recruiter in Kuwait. The Filipinos have been stranded for one and a half
months already, while their more than 300 Indian and Indonesian colleagues
for three months.

The latest email received yesterday, June 21, from overseas Filipinos in
Kuwait assisting them, revealed that they did not have their lunch that day
and only subsisted on coffee to pass away their hunger. While they had been
fed when they were under their agency in their first accommodation in
Khaitan, they could hardly swallow this.

On June 20, they had been turned over to the Public Warehousing Company
PWC, their new employer. They are now staying in another building in
Farwaniya. They were promised to be given food allowance which was never given.

The PWC subcontracted them to the Al-Suaiba United General Trading and
Contracting Company (or SUC) and the latter returned them to the PWC on
June 20. Major newspapers in Kuwait have reported very recently that the
PWC is a notorious record-breaker of employment contracts. The PWC has a
US$5-B contract to supply goods and other services to the US Army in Iraq.

It was also reported that some of the workers have been stricken by chicken
pox and have been transferred to three-bedroom flats occupied by 12-15
Filipinos. They reportedly slept on the floor with the old mattresses from
their previous employer. The other nationalities mentioned were not that
lucky as they were housed 30 each in similar flats.

If it were not for the concern and assistance of different Filipinos
working in Kuwait, the plight of the 114 would have been worse. We deplore
however the Philippine Embassy=92s, specifically that of Labor Attach=E9
Atty. Leopoldo de Jesus', lack of concern on the migrants=92 sor= ry
state. No financial, food and other basic necessities have been extended to
the workers.

The Philippine agency named Philippine Trade which is located in Arquiza
St. Ermita even had the gall to ask an additional 170 Kuwaiti Dinars from
the migrants and continued to threaten the person and family of the
spokesperson of the Filipino victims.

We demand that the Philippine Embassy provide all the necessary assistance
to the 114 stranded workers. This includes food, clothing, beddings,
medical and legal assistance to the workers. We also demand that the
Embassy investigate the PWC and its counterpart agencies both in the
Philippines and in Kuwait.

We also feel that it is the government=92s main responsibility to assist
its nationals in distress and it will ring hollow if they will say they do
not have the necessary funding for this.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas recently transferred P6 billion of
OWWA's money to the Land Bank of the Philippines, and yet it has not even
given a single cent to any of the 114 workers. The government should
urgently heed the call of its workers in need less it lose further support
from its own nationals.



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