Sponsor held in PAM, MoI response to ‘distress’ call – Full rights vowed to Filipina worker

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KUWAIT CITY, Aug 10: After a ‘call for help’ was posted last night by a Filipina domestic worker in Kuwait on the social networking site ‘Facebook’, the Public Authority for Manpower in coordination with the Ministry of Interior moved within minutes to rescue her, reports Al- Qabas daily. The distressed worker reported she was subjected to abuse by the family of the sponsor whom she works and that she was being ‘exploited’ in violation of the laws and this necessitated urgent intervention by officials from the workforce, led by the Deputy Director General of the Employment Protection Sector, Dr. Mubarak Al-Jafour.

Responsible sources told the daily after monitoring the worker’s live broadcast, the workers in the labor protection sector, in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, went to the address posted by the domestic worker, the sponsor was arrested and the worker was transferred to the domestic workers shelter in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.

The sources added the Ministry of Interior has begun investigations with the sponsor, who is believed to be a bedoun based on the complaint filed by the domestic worker. The sources indicated after the investigations are completed, the worker will be given her full rights and then she will be given an option to leave the country, stressing the keenness of Kuwait and the government agencies to protect the rights of workers. In this context, the Labor Attaché at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait, Nasser Mustafa, praised the quick response of the Kuwaiti authorities in dealing with the issue of the worker, who asked for help in a Facebook broadcast. Mustafa told Al-Qabas, the police response to the case was very quick, and “we salute them for what they actually did in rescuing the worker, even though the time was past midnight.” He added, the Philippine embassy was following up on the situation including paying a visit to the worker at the shelter. Meanwhile, the Al-Jarida daily said, the Head of the Voluntary Committee to Study the Conditions of Domestic Workers in the country, Bassam Al- Shimmari, praised the rapid response of the concerned government agencies and stressed that this quick move is a good gesture

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