BI implements partial deployment ban to Kuwait

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has started implementing a ban on the deployment of newly-hired domestic workers to Kuwait following the recent killing of a Filipina helper there.

Imposed after the killing of Filipino worker Jeanelyn Villavende, the ban applies to all first-time household service workers (HSWs) recruited to work in Kuwait.

HSWs with employment certificates issued before the cut-off on January 3 will still be allowed to leave, the BI said in a statement Tuesday.

Villavende, who hailed from South Cotabato, was allegedly killed by her employer's wife in what Malacañang said was a “clear disregard” of an agreement between the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments for the protection of Filipino workers.

Returning overseas Filipino workers and first-time skilled workers are not covered by the deployment ban, according to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

The immigration bureau said it started enforcing the ban after receiving a copy of a January 3 resolution to this effect from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA).

The POEA also imposed a moratorium on the verification, accreditation and processing of individual contracts and additional job orders for HSWs, the BI said. HSWs whose employment certificates were issued on or before 5 p.m. of January 3 are exempted from the restrictions.

Grifton Medina, the BI's acting port operations division chief, warned agencies that may attempt to circumvent the prohibition.

"Our system is integrated with POEA's [system] hence with a click of a finger, we would be able to verify an OFW's records immediately," he said in the statement. —KBK, GMA News