PH lifts total deployment ban on Kuwait – DOLE

By: Neil Arwin Mercado, INQINQUIRER.net, 14 Feb 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has lifted the total deployment ban imposed on Kuwait, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced Friday.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) Governing Board, in a resolution approved Thursday, said the deployment ban was initially partially lifted following the approval by the Kuwaiti and Philippine governments of a harmonized employment contract for Filipino domestic workers or household service workers during the PH-Kuwait Joint Committee Meeting last February 2 or 3.

The initial lifting of the ban, however, did not cover newly-hired and returning domestic workers or household service workers.

But following the filing of appropriate charges against the perpetrators of the death of overseas Filipina worker (OFW) Jeanelyn Villavende, whose case prompted the imposition of the ban, the POEA Governing Board “unanimously approved” the lifting of the remaining deployment ban in Kuwait.

“Now, therefore, the POEA Governing Board in a meeting duly convened, resolves as it is hereby resolved, to lift the deployment ban to Kuwait and to resume the processing and deployment of all remaining categories of domestic workers or household service workers,” the resolution states.

In January, the Philippines imposed a total deployment ban of OFWs to Kuwait over the alleged attempt by the Kuwaiti government to cover up the true cause of Villavende’s death.

This after the autopsy conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Villavende’s remains indicated that she was physically and sexually abused.