5 to 10 Filipina maids fleeing sponsors daily

Published Date: July 27, 2009
By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer


KUWAIT: An average of between five and ten Filipina housemaids are fleeing every day from their sponsors in Kuwait, according to Philippine Labor Attach頊osephus Jimenez. In a recent interview with the Kuwait Times, he revealed that there are currently around 176 runaway housemaids being housed at the embassy's Filipino Workers Resource Center (FWRC). He added that a number of the runaway domestic workers' cases are resolved daily by mutually amicable agreement; some of the absconding workers will return
home, while others choose to stay and have their work visas transferred to other sponsors. The workers routinely cite non-payment of salaries, verbal abuse and sexual harassment as reasons for fleeing.

There are some runaways whose cases have been dragging Filipino embassy for months or even years without resolution. Among these cases are those of six young mothers and their toddlers who are now being sheltered at the FWRC while their cases are being heard. These young mothers are mostly victims of circumstances; some are too weak to fight back at their abusive husbands. Now, they are being sheltered at the embassy, as well as being fed and offered legal assistance in their individual battles.

33-year-old Yasmin is the mother of a four-and-a-half year old daughter. She first sought the embassy's help on October 12, 2005, with her case possibly being the longest-ever battle in this category. Her husband refused to give her his consent when she wished to return to her native country with her then one-year-old daughter. Since then, her case has been in the hands of the Ministry of Interior.

When she first had her daughter, the father denied that the baby was his, but eventually he recognized her as his child and he and Yasmin were married in a Kuwaiti court. Yasmin was thankful that her mother-in-law supported her, ensuring that her daughter obtained a Kuwaiti passport. However, when she asked permission to return home to the Philippines with her daughter, her husband refused to give his consent, leaving her no choice but seek the embassy's assistance. According to Yasmin, her moved was trigg
ered by husband's harsh treatment.

He would lock me up in the house and told me that if I leaved he would cut off my legs. I was afraid. I thank my mother-in-law, who supported me at least. She (the mother-in-law) brought me here to the embassy. I don't want to go home to the Philippines without my daughter. The police told me to just get permission from my husband so I could leave with my daughter, but my husband would not cooperate. So I've been here [at the embassy] with my daughter for almost four years now," Yasmin explained. Yasmin
was also grateful to the embassy for providing her with shelter and food while she awaits her husband's decision.
I am very grateful to the embassy for providing me with a home [free of charge] for almost four years now. Much as I want to go back home, I cannot leave my daughter here alone," she said. Yasmin's estranged Kuwaiti husband is her former employer's son.

27-year-old Bainon sought the embassy's help when she could no longer tolerate her abusive Kuwaiti husband. She came to the embassy on March 2009 with her youngest child, her four-year-old daughter, leaving her five-year-old son with her estranged husband. "I'd like to divorce my husband because he would always hurt me. He would hit me on my ears always when he's angry and now my left eardrum is damaged and I cannot hear from it. So I decided to leave him," she said.

I want him to give me a visa so that I can also work here and provide food for my daughter. I don't want to leave my two children here with him. If they want me to go back to the Philippines, I'll go, but I need to take my two kids," she said.

Andima is the 27-year-old mother of a seven-month-old son. She was jailed for three months when her employer discovered that she was pregnant by her Egyptian boyfriend. Her case was handled by the Ministry of Interior. She was brought to the Philippine Embassy after three month in jail; after giving birth to her child at the local hospital, she was returned to jail once again, remaining there for a further three months. Eventually, in May 2009, the Kuwaiti authorities again delivered her to the embassy aft
er her Egyptian boyfriend and the father of her son made it clear that he did not intend to marry her. "I would go back to the Philippines with my son. I've served my six months jail sentence for a case of love. I am just awaiting the travel document to allow me and my son to go back to the Philippines," she said.

Darwina is a 28-year-old Filipina from Basilan. She fell pregnant by a Filipino who was then working as a private nurse with her Kuwaiti employer. She had an illicit affair with him until she fell pregnant and decided to run away. In her second month of pregnancy, the father of her son went back to the Philippines, never to return to Kuwait. She stayed in Kuwait with her son, who is now three years old, without a visa. On July 21, 2009 she decided to seek assistance from the embassy. "I got tired of hidin
g and running away from the police. I want to be free. I want to share the feeling of being free with my son, so I decided to seek embassy help," she said.

Mariel is from Osamis City in Mindanao. She asked for the embassy's help when her husband was allegedly arrested by the police in connection with a drugs-related case and never communicated with his family thereafter. She went to the embassy with her one-and-a-half year old son and three-and-a-half year old daughter. Since fleeing from her sponsor four years back, she has been without a visa, managing to safely give birth to her two children inside her and her husband's small apartment. She has wanted to
return home to the Philippines since failing to hear from her husband following his arrest some months ago.

I hope I can go back home and breathe freely in the Philippines. The embassy has been very helpful already and they promised to provide me with plane tickets for me and my children. I still want to hear something about my husband because I know he was just framed. He's not into selling or pushing drugs," she insisted.

Annalisa is a 32-year-old former housemaid who worked for sponsors in South Surra. She married with her Egyptian boyfriend and got a small apartment in Farwaniya to live in. She had a child who is now two-and-a-half years old. But her Egyptian husband has five children by his first wife, leaving her with almost nothing to live on but the residue of her husband's already scant KD 120 monthly income. She said she felt bad when sometimes she could not buy not even bread for her and her son. Annalisa also re
vealed that although she is married to her Egyptian husband, her visa is still under article 20 and that he always leaves her locked inside their home in Farwaniya.

The embassy admitted that my case is a little bit difficult to resolve, but they said they will help," she told the Kuwait Times. "I've been here since March. My husband won't allow me to go to the Philippines with my son. I hope I can go back; if not, I want to work and earn money instead." Labor Attach頊osephus Jimenez said that these cases would be resolved with the help of embassy's Assistance to Nationals Unit (ATN).

I am basically providing them with board and lodgings [accommodation]. But otherwise, their cases are being handled by the ATN because their cases are not about labor-related issues. Nonetheless, on behalf of Ambassador Ricardo Endaya and the ATN, we will provide travel documentation for everyone who needs it and would like to be repatriated, with the help, of course, of local [Kuwaiti] authorities. There are many cases which need to be resolved, primarily because their father was not a Filipino, so, we'l
l have to abide by the rules prevailing in the country of their father. So, with those cases, we cannot just easily repatriate them. But rest assured that we are going to extend our help to our nationals," he said.(abscbn News)