MANILA, Philippines—A group of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East on Sunday called on the Philippine embassy and the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) in Kuwait to help 50 distressed OFWs working in a beauty salon in the emirate.
In a statement, Saudi Arabia-based John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, said the OFWs working as beauticians for the Ms Raneem Beauty Center had complained of poor working conditions and labor rights violations as they have no employment contracts.
The beauty center is owned and managed by Mohammed Rebhi Youshief Suleiman, a Jordanian national married to a Kuwaiti.
In an affidavit dated August 16 and addressed to labor attache Josephus Jimenez, the OFWs said they were forced to work 12 hours a day for salaries below minimum wage. They are not given overtime or holiday pay. Neither are they allowed sick leave or full day-off privileges.
Some of the female workers also said they had been physically and sexually assaulted by their employer.
Monterona said some of the OFWs were victims of illegal recruitment, entering Kuwait on a tourist visa.
He said leaders of the OFWs had sought help from Polo-Kuwait on August 21 but the government agency hesitated in accepting their complaint because the OFWs were not documented.
Monterona said Polo-Kuwait had committed an “outright disservice” when it did not assist the OFWs.
“They should have been given immediate assistance as they were victims of illegal recruitment,” he said. - Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 23, 2010
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