Batch of 39 OFWs arrives from Kuwait

A batch of 39 overseas Filipino workers arrived early Friday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Kuwait, a radio report said.

PAL flight PR 669 carrying the OFWs touched ground at about 7:40 a.m., Sam Nielsen reported on Dobol B sa News TV.

Isang batch ng mga OFW galing Kuwait, nakauwi na ng bansa. | via @dzbbsamnielsen pic.twitter.com/t7foNWD3fN

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) February 2, 2018

These OFWs were sent home after being given amnesty by the Kuwait government as a manifestation of "goodwill," said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

Many of them were undocumented workers or were runaways from abusive employers, he said, adding that more than 300 OFWs from the Middle Eastern country will also be repatriated.

Citing government information, Nielsen said that the common reasons for the repatriation of OFWs, especially from the Middle East, include non-payment of salaries, maltreatment (physical and verbal abuse and rape), and end of their employment contracts.

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration's Deputy Administrator Arnel Ignacio, along with some OWWA officials, led the team that welcomed the OFWs.

Aside from welcoming the repatriates, OWWA officials were expected to assist the workers in processing their documents and return to their respective provinces.

In mid-January, President Rodrigo Duterte instructed the Labor Department to temporarily suspend new deployment of OFWs to Kuwait, following a series of mysterious deaths and abuse of Filipinos in the Middle Eastern country.

In his departure speech before his trip to India, Duterte appealed to Kuwaitis, as well as to Mideast  employers, to treat Filipinos "as human beings."

On January 19, Bello III announced the temporary ban on deployment of OFWs to Kuwait, citing cases of maltreatment that had sometimes led to mysterious deaths.

Kuwaiti officials in the Philippines have tried to negotiate for the lifting of the ban, but Bello said he has rejected the appeal for now.

He also said that many more arrivals from Kuwait are expected.

DOLE Sec. Silvestre Bello III: Marami pang darating [OFW mula sa Kuwait]. Mahigit 300 pa.

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) February 2, 2018

Bello also said the cases of mysterious OFW deaths in Kuwait are being investigated.

DOLE Sec. Silvestre Bello III: 'Yung [pagkamatay ng mga OFW sa Kuwait] ang kasalukuyang iniimbestigahan namin.

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) February 2, 2018

—With a report from Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/LBG/KG, GMA News