21 February 2018 MANILA — The Philippines today welcomed Kuwait’s decision granting Manila’s request to extend its amnesty program, saying this would allow several thousands more of undocumented Filipinos to return home.
“We express our appreciation for the kind gesture of Kuwait in granting our request to extend their amnesty for our undocumented kababayans there,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a statement issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“This is a very positive gesture that would surely contribute to ongoing efforts to address matters of mutual concern to both the Philippines and Kuwait,” the Secretary said.
“And for us to continue moving forward, we expect our Kuwaiti friends to make substantial commitments on pragmatic and impermeable steps aimed at better protecting the rights and promoting the welfare of our kababayans in Kuwait,” he said.
The Secretary issued the statement hours after the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait reported that the Gulf state had decided to extend the three-week amnesty period ending on 22 February, by another two months until 22 April.
In his report to Secretary Cayetano, Ambassador Renato Villa said the extension order was signed by Kuwait Interior Minister Sheikh Khalid Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah and was issued on Tuesday.
The decision came less than a week after Secretary Cayetano formally conveyed the Philippine extension request during a meeting with Kuwaiti Ambassador Mousaed Al-Thwaikh in Manila.
Secretary Cayetano said he asked for the extension to allow the Embassy to accommodate and process more of the 10,800 undocumented Filipinos in Kuwait who may want to go home as only close to 3,000 of those qualified have applied so far.
Secretary Cayetano said he and the DFA remain in close coordination with Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and the Department of Labor and Employment to ensure a successful outcome of negotiations with the Kuwaiti Government that are aimed at improving protection mechanisms for the more than 250,000 Filipinos working there.
The amnesty extension buoyed the hopes of hundreds of frantic Filipino workers who think they would not be accommodated in the last remaining repatriation flights to Manila.
The undocumented workers, who trooped to the Embassy on Tuesday afternoon, were assured by Ambassador Villa there were no reasons to be worried as the amnesty extension will now allow them to be included in the repatriation.
Ambassador Villa said the Embassy has processed 3,801 travel documents for workers since the amnesty period began and has so far repatriated 1,796. He said more than 2,000 more workers will be repatriated in the next few days.
On Tuesday, the DFA flew home some 580 workers via Cebu Pacific and Philippines Airlines in what is considered to be one of the biggest if not the biggest repatriation carried out by the Department. END