STATEMENT ON SIGNING OF PH-KUWAIT MOA ON OFWS

The signing of this Agreement is an important milestone in our fight to secure the rights and uphold the welfare of the 260,000 OFWs stationed in Kuwait.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, along with the senior state officials who helped make the final push, deserve credit for persevering and closing this deal despite the recent difficulties between our countries.

Moving forward, our government must do everything in its power to ensure that the OFW rights enshrined in the agreement are upheld by the Kuwaiti government.

To operationalize these rights, the Philippine government should work with the proper Kuwaiti authorities to establish effective enforcement mechanisms which will ensure compliance with the MOA and impose tough sanctions on offenders. Otherwise, the MOA will become a mere paper tiger.

Learning from the tough lessons taught to us by this challenging ordeal, the DFA should also be proactive in negotiating similar deals with countries that have yet to establish adequate safeguards for the rights of OFWs stationed there. OFWs across the world need to know that their government is looking out for them.