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Kuwaiti Instagram star slammed for remarks on Pinoy workers’ days off, passports


A Kuwaiti social media celebrity has been receiving backlash after she criticized a new law allowing domestic workers to have their days off and to not surrender their passports to their employers.

Sondos Alqattan, a makeup artist and beauty expert, received strong criticisms after she made her remarks online.

 

 

"Honestly, I disagree with this law. I don't want a Filipino maid anymore,” Alqattan was quoted as saying in English by the TRT World, an English-language news channel based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Alqattan has more than 2.3 million followers on Instagram.

"But how can you have a 'servant' in your house who gets to keep their passport with them... If they ran away and went back to their country who'll refund me? And what's worse is they have one day off every week,” Alqattan added.

Last May, Kuwait and the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the protection of Filipino workers in the Gulf state.

It included that OFWs should have a day off, get at least seven hours of sleep daily and their passports should no longer be confiscated by their employers.

Manila had been ironing out an agreement with Kuwait on the protection and welfare of OFWs following the death of several Filipinos in the Middle Eastern nation, including Joanna Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer last February.

The discovery of Demafelis' body has prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to ban the deployment of newly hired Filipino workers to Kuwait.

According to authorities, 252,000 Filipinos work in Kuwait, many as domestic helpers. They are among over two million employed in the region, whose remittances are a lifeline to the Philippine economy.

The 'Kafala system' of the Gulf countries has been criticized for forcing foreign workers to seek their employer's consent to change jobs or leave the country.

Some have labeled the system as "modern day slavery." — Jamil Santos/LA, GMA News

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