Kuwait will deport 302 Filipinos from among a total of 462 Filipino labourers evacuated from an unlicensed sheltering centre amid labour tensions between the two countries.
The 150 others are kept in police custody due to travel restrictions related to involvement in different legal cases including criminal cases, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai has reported.
The 462 workers had been evacuated from a house rented by the Philippine embassy “in violation of laws because it sheltered house labour fugitives from their sponsors,” the paper quoted Kuwaiti security sources as saying.
“The evacuation operation was conducted in coordination between the Public Authority of Manpower and the Residency Affairs Police after notifying the Philippine embassy,” the sources said.
Last month, Kuwait said it would suspend issuing all visas for Filipino labourers until further notice
The Filipino deportees including nine women will be sent back home in groups aboard flights starting from Thursday, according to the security sources.
“No embassy has the right to set up sheltering centres for fugitive workers,” the sources said.
Late last month, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said a ban earlier imposed on issuing visas for Filipino workers remains in place, blaming the ban on what it called “wrong practices” made by the Philippine embassy and crimes committed by some members of the Filipino community against Kuwaitis.
Source : Gulf News
