OFWs to Benefit from Kuwait’s Partial Amnesty for Migrant Workers
by Samuel Medenilla
February 26, 2016
Thousands of undocumented overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait can now avoid being blacklisted by the Kuwaiti government after it announced a partial amnesty for illegal migrant workers.
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) disclosed the Ministry of Interior (MOI) of the State of Kuwait implemented the reprieve amid its intensified campaign against unregistered OFWs.
Under the partial “amnesty,” erring migrants will be allowed to legalize their status or leave the country if they will voluntarily report to the Residency Affairs Departments of the MOI to correct their employment status.
“Residency law violators will be allowed to pay their fines and either legalize their status or leave the country without being blacklisted. With this, they can return on a new visa in the future,” POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac said in POEA’s Advisory No. 4, series of 2016.
Cacdac urged undocumented OFWs in Kuwait to avail of the program to avoid possible sanction from authorities.
“The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has issued guidelines on the amnesty, copy of which can be seen at their Facebook page www.facebook.com/Philippine-Embassy-in-Kuwait,” Cacdac said.
OFWs, who will not participate in the program, could still face deportation and be banned from going back to Kuwait after paying the necessary fines.
“Under normal circumstances, the fine for overstaying is KD (Kuwaiti Dinar) 2.00 per day and is capped at a maximum of KD600,” Cacdac said.
Based from the existing currency exchange rate, a Kuwaiti Dinar is equivalent to R158.26.
According to the 2013 stock estimates of the Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO), there are around 6,000 undocumented OFWs in Kuwait.
In a related development, Cacdac warned Filipino nurses and caregiver against applying for work in Japan through the services of recruitment agencies.
Cacdac clarified that interested applicants for both positions in Japan could only be processed by POEA.