The Philippines has no intention to close down its shelter for runaway and abused Filipino workers in Kuwait despite the pressure the foreign country is giving the Philippines over its deployment ban. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said while Kuwait is concerned over the shelter established by the Philippine government in the foreign land, the Philippines will not close it. He explained in a television interview on Monday, May 15, that removing the shelter would mean absence of protection for embattled overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait. "Well, first of all, kung ganoon, eh di paano na ngayon kung may tumakas na Pilipino, kapag nandoon siya sa kalsada, huhulihin ng pulis iyan; iyon ang epekto niyan (if we close it down, what will happen to the runaway Filipinos, they will end up in streets and arrested by police; that's the effect)," De Vega stressed, explaining the possible effect if the shelter will be removed. "So we’d like to say, we do not intend to close the shelters," he added. The shelter was one of the two recurring issues the Kuwaiti Government is concerned about pertaining to the bilateral labor agreement of both countries. But, according to De Vega, none of these have been put into writing. Kuwait has been opposing the initiative, which aims to shelter Filipinos who run away from their employers due to abuses, as it is not supported under Kuwait's law. It is, however, allowed under Philippine law. This alleged violation of the labor agreement between the two countries was brought up when Kuwait suspended its issuance of visa covering all new Filipino workers entering their country last week. The suspension, De Vega claimed, was actually to apply pressure to the Philippines to lift its deployment ban of new household workers to the Middle East country. [READ MORE: Kuwait pressuring PH to lift deployment ban  —DFA official](https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/12/dfa-exec-kuwait-halting-issuance-of-visas-for-pinoys-measure-of-pressure-for-ph-to-lift-deployment-ban)

'It has to stay'

De Vega further said that the shelter, which is mandated under the law, will stay unless the Congress stops it. But he stressed that the DFA is bent on keeping the shelter operational and will only make compromises as to where to bring the runaway workers. "So iyon na lang po, wala tayong balak na isara iyong shelter (So that's it. We have no plans on closing the shelter). Under RA 8042 and other laws, the Philippines is obligated to open shelters or centers for Filipinos kung saan maraming Pilipino (where there are a lot of Filipinos)," De Vega said. "So it has to stay, and we have to be able to convince the Kuwaitis na iyon ang katotohanan. Gawa tayo ng ibang compromise pero hindi iyong isara iyong shelter (that that is the reality. Let's make other compromise but not to close down the shelter)," De Vega added.

Negotiations ongoing

The DFA official said a team from the DFA, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) will fly to Kuwait to meet Kuwaiti officials and discuss the matter. De Vega said the meeting had been scheduled even before the suspension of visa was enforced. It is an ongoing negotiations with Kuwait on the labor agreement. He said the suspension of visa could be Kuwait's "negotiating tactics" for the Philippines to finally lift its deployment. "Humihingi kami ng explanation ‘no, kung ano ba, suspended ba lahat pati tourists, pati ordinary workers. Kailangan nila paliwanagan iyan (We are asking for an explanation whether tourists and ordinary workers are covered by the suspension. They need to explain it)," the official said. "Pero hindi ibig sabihin na pagbalik, automatic resolved na ito. Ang importante lang, mapaliwanagan natin sa Kuwait kung ano iyong ating panig (But this does not mean when the team gets back, this is automatically resolved. What's important is we can explain our side to Kuwait)," he added.