50 Pinay beauticians in Kuwait accuse employer of abuse

Some 50 Filipina workers employed as beauticians in Kuwait have sought the Philippine Embassy’s help against their employers whom they accused of illegal recruitment, oppressive labor practices, and physical and sexual abuse.

In their letter to Labor Attache Josephus Jimenez of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait, the workers said their employers brought them to the country only with a tourist visa, and of not giving them a written employment contract.

The workers also alleged that they are forced to work for 12 hours daily with only two days off every month, that their salaries are below minimum standards in the country and vary from 80 Kuwaiti dinars (about P12,500) to 100 Kuwaiti dinars (P15,600), and that their passports have been confiscated by their employers.

The Filipinas said apart from illegal labor practices, they are also subjected to physical assaults such as hitting, slapping and pulling of hair, and sexual harassment.

“We are already frustrated and helpless with our current situation; our lips are sealed with fear, and we cannot bear to spend another day here and know yet again who among our fellow Filipinas has been hit. We have had enough,” the workers stated in their letter.

Migrants’ rights group Migrante-Middle East lamented that the Philippine post in Kuwait refused to assist these distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“We have been informed by the leaders of the 50 distress OFWs that they went to POLO yesterday (August 21) but their complaints were not accepted by the POLO official because they are not legitimate OFWs, and that they are in fact receiving their salaries,” Migrante regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said.

Repeated calls to the phone of Labor Attache Jimenez went unanswered. Other staff of the Embassy meanwhile declined to comment, saying that only Jimenez was authorized to talk about the matter.

Monterona urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to probe the alleged rejection of the workers’ complaints, and help the workers escape their employer. – KBK, GMANews.TV