Marcos: OFW deployment ban to Kuwait to be lifted

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 21) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the deployment ban on Filipino workers to Kuwait will be lifted after he met with Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

In his arrival speech on Saturday, Marcos said he had a meeting with the Kuwaiti leader on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Gulf Cooperation Council (ASEAN-GCC) Summit in Saudi Arabia.

During the meeting, both leaders vowed to continue discussions on addressing labor issues, according to Marcos.

In February, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) halted the processing of contracts of first-time household workers bound for Kuwait after overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Jullebee Ranara was brutally murdered by the son of her Kuwaiti employers. Marcos thumbed down a total deployment ban.

After a few months, Kuwait decided to suspend the issuance of entry and work visas for Filipinos.

“He was very effusive, saying that we should remove all of those and continue as what we have done before,” Marcos said, referring to the Kuwaiti leader's remarks.

The president described the meeting as “a very important development.”

“Because for a few months now, we have had to ban the deployment of Philippine workers in Kuwait. That will end and we will now return to the normal state of affairs with the Kuwaiti government,” he said.

Marcos did not specify when the ban would be lifted.

He said the Kuwaiti government has “moved very quickly” as discussions on resolving the issues have already begun.