Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega. 蜜桃工作室 FILE PHOTO
The two-day meeting between the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments over the latter鈥檚 sudden suspension of new entry visas for Filipinos ended on Wednesday with still no resolution in sight, but only provided the Philippine side with a clearer and official explanation for the decision, which had again strained labor relations between the two countries.
A senior official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday said the Kuwaiti government mainly had a problem with the shelters being operated by the Philippine Embassy for distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) rescued from abusive employers in the Gulf state.
Officials of the Kuwaiti interior ministry maintained that these foreign-operated shelters 鈥渋nfringe on their sovereignty,鈥� Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told the Inquirer in an interview.
The Kuwaiti officials did not expressly demand the closure of the Philippine shelters but only said that Kuwaiti-run shelters be used instead for such purposes, he added.
Nonnegotiable
They also did not expound on which provisions of the 2018 labor agreement between the two countries were allegedly violated, De Vega noted.
鈥淭he overall measures we鈥檙e doing to protect our workers, they feel (these efforts) would infringe on their sovereignty. For example, if the Filipinos have a criminal case and they鈥檙e being kept in the shelter,鈥� De Vega said.
But the DFA official explained that the Philippine government remained bound by its own laws to extend protection to Filipino citizens abroad, and that 鈥渃ompromising鈥� this mandate was nonnegotiable.
鈥淸It] is a well-established duty of consular offices under international law and conventions,鈥� he added. 鈥淔or us to violate our own laws mandating Philippine embassies to put up a center for Filipinos, just so that we could convince any foreign country to resume hiring our workers, would be dishonorable. The Filipino people have more dignity than that.鈥�
The Philippine delegation explained to Kuwait that the actions taken by the embassy were simply meant to 鈥渆nsure the safety and welfare of Filipino nationals.鈥�
The government operates a Migrant Workers Resource Center鈥攁lso known as 鈥淏ahay Kalinga鈥濃�攊n Kuwait, which as of Thursday housed 466 distresssed OFWs.