30 April 2008

Philippine Embassy Lambasted for Inutility and Criminal Neglect on Plight of OFW's in Kuwait

The Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) condemns the Philippine Embassy's inutility in making any concrete action in the grievances of 100 OFW's which led them and 300 others to go on strike against Al Jassim Trucking Company in Kuwait. One of the grievances of the migrant workers led to the criminal neglect by the Embassy officials in the accident involving Ireneo Olor of the same company. He was only provided transportation to the hospital after enduring four days of pain caused by a broken back. 

The said strike resulted in the impending deportation either tonight or tomorrow of 7 OFW's, namely Joel Buenaventura, Jonathan Abad, Mario Mesinas, , Jolito Bawaan, Jose Bugnot, Edmund Baralla, and Eduardo Perez as they were accused by the company, the police and even Labor Attache' Leopoldo de Jesus that they were the instigators of the strike. Mr. de Jesus even went to the extent of publicly declaring that strikes are illegal in Kuwait and that is the reason why the 7 were arrested and deported. 

Mr. Olor on the other hand was only provided emergency transportation service to the hospital by his company 4 days after his back was broken. Providing transportation services to and from work sites and during emergencies is one of the demands of the 410 migrant workers including 100 OFW's in Al Jassim which the company and the Philippine Embassy ignored.

Initially on April 19, the company's manager advised Irineo to just board a taxi up to Jahra hospital which is 100 kilometers away. Other than being unable to stand up because of his condition, he and his roommates had no money to spare for the taxi fare. The company only acceded in providing him with transportation service to the hospital in the morning of April 23 when his co-workers brought him to Al Jassim's head office in Shuwaikh.

Earlier the multinational workforce of Al Jassim organized a strike from April 16 - 20. They gained a small victory by being granted 20KD for every four trips to Iraq and one locally in Kuwait. This was only one of their several demands.

The public statements of Labatt de Jesus lies in stark contrast to the police's public statement that appeared in a news article during a sit-in protest action inside the Education Ministry on April 27 made by more than 300 Bangladeshi cleaners working in a government school. It was reported that police officers surrounded the Ministry but assured the workers that they would not be charged as long as their demands were legitimate.

It then seems that Labatt de Jesus has become the spokesperson of Al Jassim Company instead of taking the cudgels for the 100 OFW's working there including the 7. Even a local Kuwaiti NGO named Social Work Society of Kuwait found out in its survey that many migrant workers go on strike because of many violations of their employment contracts by their employers.A police officer was also quoted in a newspaper article in 2005 that labor unrest is on the increase in Kuwait and that companies should take care of their workers, otherwise they will not accept slave (like) conditions and will come out to show their anger.

We demand that Labor Attache' de Jesus be investigated for his conduct on the Al Jassim strike and on the criminal neglect on Ireneo Olor. At ythe same time, all assistance be extended to Mr. Olor including getting all the insurance benefits he is entitled to in Kuwait and in the Philippines. He should also not be sent home by the company until he fully recuperates from his injuries and all wages and benefits should be provided to him.