The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has assured that it will provide assistance to the 250 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Kuwait who will be repatriated today, Aug. 31.
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III said the home-bound OFWs are expected to arrive in the country at 4:50 p.m., Aug. 31, via flight QR 932 following their urgent request for assistance.
According to Bello, 80 of the total repatriated OFWs are from the Migrant Workers Overseas Filipino Resource Center (MWORFC), while the remaining 170 are domestic and company workers.
"These workers have either finished their contracts or have expiring exit visas and victims of various employment contract-related violations," he explained.
The migrant workers were rescued through a Qatar Airways chartered flight arranged by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait as part of DOLE’s response to the requests of OFWs who cannot go home on regular flights.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) paid for the plane tickets of the 50 distressed OFWs, while the rest were shouldered by their employers or companies.
Just like the many OFWs who were repatriated by the government, the Labor chief assured that the arriving migrant workers will receive assistance from the government such as quarantine accommodation and transport services.
"Of course, we will also have them tested for COVID-19 at the expense of the government as part of the standard operating procedure to comply with safety and health protocols," he added.
Meanwhile, Labor Attaché Nasser S. Mustafa of POLO-Kuwait lauded Bello for continuously helping migrant workers in difficult situations amid the ongoing pandemic
"This continuing effort to achieve the country’s first massive repatriation campaign is truly inspired by the government’s commitment to serve our modern-day heroes," Mustafa said.