Kuwait to recruit Ethiopians amid Philippines labor crisis
Published 9:38 PM,
April 03, 2018
Updated 9:38 PM, April 03, 2018
'We aim to open the door to the recruitment of Ethiopian workers
to fill the deficit of domestic servants and reduce prices,' said General Talal
Al-Maarifi, head of Kuwait's General Department of Residency Affairs
BAN. Because the
Philippine government still refuses to send OFWs to Kuwait, the Gulf state
decided to hire Ehtiopians instead. AFP
KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait will recruit Ethiopian nationals to make up
for a "deficit" in domestic workers, authorities said Tuesday, April
2, following the grisly murder of a Filipina maid in the Gulf state.
The Philippines banned its citizens from working in Kuwait after
the body of 29-year-old Joanna Demafelis was found in a freezer earlier this
year, bearing signs of torture.
"We aim to open the door to the recruitment of Ethiopian
workers to fill the deficit of domestic servants and reduce prices,"
General Talal Al-Maarifi, head of Kuwait's General Department of Residency
Affairs, told AFP.
Ethiopia 5 years ago instituted a similar ban, following reports
of abuse and complaints that employment agencies lured its citizens to work
under illegal and appalling conditions. The ban was lifted last Thursday, March
29.
Maarifi said there were more than 15,000 Ethiopians currently living
and working in Kuwait.
Kuwaiti police in March 2017 detained a woman for filming her
Ethiopian maid falling from the seventh floor without trying to rescue her.
The 12-second video shows the maid hanging outside the building,
with one hand tightly gripping the window frame, as she begs for help.
Rights groups have voiced alarm over the plight of workers in
the Gulf and other Arab countries, where migrant labor is regulated under a
system known as "kafala".
The kafala, or sponsorship, system ties migrant
workers' visas to their employers, prohibiting workers from leaving the country
or changing jobs without prior consent. – Rappler.com
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