(Eagle News) — The Bureau of Immigration on Wednesday said that Overseas Filipino Workers in Kuwait who are only currently on vacation in the Philippines can leave and return to their jobs.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente made the announcement after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued a directive exempting “Balik Manggagawa” passengers from the total deployment ban of Filipino workers to the Middle Eastern country.
According to Morente, he has instructed Marc Red Mariñas, BI port operations division chief, to ensure the proper documentation of the OFWs returning to Kuwait, and to ensure they are “subjected to the usual immigration departure formalities.”
“It is imperative that our immigration officers exercise extra vigilance in order to thwart attempts by the illegal recruiters and human trafficking syndicates to circumvent the ban by employing all sorts of dirty schemes,” Mariñas said.
Short-term non-working visas
According to Morente, Filipinos who have short-term non-working visas in Kuwait were also not covered by the ban, and would therefore be allowed to depart.
“As for those who have just been recruited to work in Kuwait. We are sorry but we cannot let you leave,” Morente said.
Earlier, over 100 OFWs who were returning to their jobs in Kuwait were stopped by BI officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).