Another Pinay maid killed in Kuwait — DFA

A Filipina domestic helper was reportedly killed by her employer in Kuwait, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday as the DFA strongly condemned the continuing attack against household workers from the Philippines.

The DFA did not provide further details but said the domestic worker was purportedly killed by her employer’s wife.

Outraged by the incident, the Home Office in Manila summoned Kuwait's Ambassador to protest "the seeming lack of protection" of Filipino domestic workers at the hands of their employers.

"The continuing incidents of violence and abuse of Filipino domestic workers in Kuwait violates the spirit of the agreement signed in May 2018 that seeks to promote and protect their welfare," a DFA statement said.

Manila called for "complete transparency" in the investigation of the case and pressed Kuwait to ensure "swift prosecution of the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law."

"The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait is coordinating closely with Kuwaiti authorities to ensure that justice will be served," the DFA said.

Rising incidents of abuses against Filipino domestic helpers, where some resulted to death, prompted the Philippine government in 2018 to enforce a deployment ban, sparking a diplomatic row between the two states.

The ban was lifted after a labor pact, which commits Kuwait to provide protection to Filipino workers, was signed in May last year, signaling normalization of the two countries’ relations.

Kuwait is a major labor destination for Filipinos in the Middle East, with over 250,000 currently working there, mostly as domestic helpers. — BAP, GMA News