Philippines halts deployment of first-time workers to Kuwait after maid’s murder

Special Philippines halts deployment of first-time workers to Kuwait after maid’s murder
Overseas Filipino workers repatriated from Kuwait wait at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration holding area in the Philippines, Jan. 20, 2023. (Department of Migrant Workers)
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Updated 08 February 2023

Philippines halts deployment of first-time workers to Kuwait after maid’s murder

Philippines halts deployment of first-time workers to Kuwait after maid’s murder
  • Manila suspended accreditation of new recruitment agencies in Kuwait last week
  • Philippine officials are preparing for labor talks with Gulf nation’s authorities

MANILA: The Philippines halted on Wednesday the deployment of first-time workers to Kuwait following increasing reports of abuse, including murder, of Filipino migrant workers in the Gulf state.

More than 268,000 Filipinos live and work in Kuwait, where 35-year-old maid Jullebee Ranara was killed and her charred body found abandoned in a desert last month.

The killing had sent shockwaves across the Philippines, sparking calls for a deployment ban until a review of bilateral labor agreements. The Philippine government has so far suspended the accreditation of new recruitment agencies in the Gulf country and is now stopping first-time workers from seeking employment in Kuwait.

“The application of first-time migrant workers specifically for household services in Kuwait shall be deferred until after significant reforms have been made resulting from upcoming bilateral talks with the said country,” the Department of Migrant Workers said in a statement.

Migrant Workers Secretary Susan Ople said the department is not yet imposing a total deployment ban in consideration of other overseas Filipinos who had worked for years in Kuwait, and Philippine officials are preparing for talks with the Kuwaiti government.

Ople cited as an example the Philippines’ labor relations with Saudi Arabia, which since November have improved after the creation of a joint technical working group that holds virtual discussions weekly to flesh out various problems and concerns. With more than 700,000 Filipinos living in the Kingdom, it is the most popular destination for overseas Filipino workers.

“We have also been informed through diplomatic channels of the willingness of the Kuwait government to engage in bilateral labor talks. We are preparing well in advance for these talks, bringing with us an accumulation of abuse done over the years, hence the need for significant changes,” Ople said, as quoted in the statement.

Another abuse case emerged from Kuwait this week, after media reported that a Filipina worker was reportedly paralyzed after jumping from a window to escape her abusive employer.

There were more than 24,000 cases of violation and abuse of Filipino workers in Kuwait in 2022 according to Department of Migrant Workers data — a significant increase from 6,500 such cases in 2016.

But the latest policy to suspend the deployment of first-time workers is likely to affect Filipinos as well.

“The Department of Migrant Workers has issued a new advisory that would affect the deployment of 5,000 mobilized HSWs (household service workers) for Kuwait,” migrant work expert Emmanuel Geslani told Arab News. He based his estimates on the current number of workers deployed to Kuwait weekly, which is around 500.

Filipino lawmaker Ron Salo said in a statement that new workers headed for Kuwait should receive cultural training prior to their departure.

“We need to ensure that those who will be deployed in Kuwait … have the requisite experience and knowledge on the culture of Kuwait,” he said.


Bloody artwork protesting Prince Harry’s Afghan kills to be projected on London landmark

Bloody artwork protesting Prince Harry’s Afghan kills to be projected on London landmark
Updated 13 sec ago

Bloody artwork protesting Prince Harry’s Afghan kills to be projected on London landmark

Bloody artwork protesting Prince Harry’s Afghan kills to be projected on London landmark
  • Sculpture by Russian artist comes in response to royal’s claim he killed 25 Taliban fighters
  • Afghans in Calais donated blood for piece that will be projected onto St. Paul’s Cathedral

LONDON: A sculpture of the coat of arms of the British royal family, created with the blood of four Afghans, is to be “projected” onto the walls of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London by Russian artist Andrei Molodkin to protest Prince Harry’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

The prince’s recent memoir “Spare” caused significant controversy after he said in it that he had killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving as an attack helicopter pilot.

He added that the figure was “not a number that fills me with satisfaction, but nor does it embarrass me,” and that he had thought of the fatalities as akin to taking “chess pieces.”

At the time, the claims prompted a backlash from many inside and outside Afghanistan, with the Taliban saying he should be put on trial.

Prince Harry later said the idea that he had boasted about killing Afghans was “a dangerous lie.”

Molodkin told Sky News that four Afghans currently based in the French city of Calais had voluntarily given their blood for the artwork, that five others living in the UK would donate more blood for it at a later stage, and that they, like him, were “very, very angry” about what the prince had written.

“They read they are just ‘chess figures’ ... for some prince hunting by helicopter,” Molodkin said. “It looked like a safari situation. How he told it, for him it’s like a computer game.”

Molodkin added that the aim was to “drench St. Paul’s Cathedral in the blood of Afghani people,” and that video footage of the prince would also be displayed.

Explaining how the art worked, he said: “Blood will go in the royal coat of arms, it will circulate in there. It will be projected ... on to the cathedral — so all the cathedral will be in the blood of Afghani people.”

Molodkin said he would also try to bring blood into the cathedral, adding: “It’s a cathedral — it’s for everyone. Everyone can come there and pray. Donating blood, it’s kind of a way of praying.” He has not sought the cathedral’s permission.

He said he has worked with human blood as a creative medium for 15 years, adding that it symbolizes power. “Then, the people who are abused by this power, I ask them to donate blood for this,” he said.

Molodkin’s solidarity with the Afghan people stems from his time in the Soviet Union, where he served as a soldier during his country’s occupation of Afghanistan.

“Even in the army, you’re scared to participate in the shooting of others … you’re very stressed,” he said of his experiences. “But (Harry) thinks it’s a video game.”

Molodkin lives in southern France after creating an art installation involving blood donated by Ukrainian soldiers depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I can’t go back to Russia,” he told Sky News.


Colombia police chief says used exorcism and prayer to fight crime

Colombia police chief says used exorcism and prayer to fight crime
Updated 38 min 22 sec ago

Colombia police chief says used exorcism and prayer to fight crime

Colombia police chief says used exorcism and prayer to fight crime
BOGOTA: Colombia’s chief of police said he and other officers have used exorcism and prayer to tackle crime and the country’s most powerful criminals, including drug cartel leader Pablo Escobar.
Sitting in his office surrounded by crucifixes, effigies of the Virgin Mary and other Catholic symbols, General Henry Sanabria told local media on Saturday that these religious practices have helped the police throughout the last 50 years of armed conflict in the South American country.
As examples, he recalled police operations in which Escobar (in 1993), FARC guerrilla leader Alfonso Cano (2011) and his military chief known as “Mono Jojoy” (2010) were killed.
“The existence of the devil is certain. I have seen him. I have felt him,” Sanabria said in an interview with Semana magazine, making the sign of the cross at every mention of the devil.
Sanabria claimed criminals used witchcraft, and said in one operation a police officer had been able to kill one of them by “praying while shooting.”
His statements have sparked fierce debates on social media in Colombia, a secular country with Catholic traditions.
President Gustavo Petro did not express concern.
“We know the beliefs of the general, but we try to make sure that these beliefs do not affect the rules, it is as simple as that,” he said. “I think he has respected them, as far as we know.”
Previous statements by the police chief have also caused controversy.
Sanabria has spoken against abortion, which is legal in Colombia until the 24th week of pregnancy, and the use of condoms, which he has called an “abortive method.”
Last October, he described Halloween as a “satanic” holiday and wrote a tweet about Women’s Day on March 8 that was accused of being sexist.
“A woman’s charm makes her husband happy and if she is reasonable, she makes it last. A discreet woman is a gift from the Lord,” he wrote.

Putin: Russia, China not creating military alliance

Putin: Russia, China not creating military alliance
Updated 26 March 2023

Putin: Russia, China not creating military alliance

Putin: Russia, China not creating military alliance
  • Putin also said Western powers were trying to form more global alliances

MOSCOW: Russia and China are not creating a military alliance and are hiding nothing in terms of their military cooperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with state television broadcast on Sunday, news agencies reported.
Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping professed friendship and pledged closer ties at a summit in Moscow early this week, as Russia struggles to make gains in what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“We are not creating any military alliance with China,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying. “Yes, we have cooperation in the sphere of military-technical interaction. We are not hiding this.
“Everything is transparent, there is nothing secret.”
Putin also said Western powers were trying to form more global alliances, accusing the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of starting to build a new “axis,” bearing some resemblance to Germany, Italy and Japan’s World War Two alliance.
“That is why Western analysts...are talking about the West starting to build a new axis similar to the one created in the 1930s by the fascist regimes of Germany and Italy and militarist Japan,” Putin said.


Two dead after shooting in Hamburg; investigation ongoing

Two dead after shooting in Hamburg; investigation ongoing
Updated 26 March 2023

Two dead after shooting in Hamburg; investigation ongoing

Two dead after shooting in Hamburg; investigation ongoing
  • Spokesperson declined to comment on the perpetrator

FRANKFURT: Two people have died after a shooting in Hamburg, police said on Sunday, in a second deadly shooting in the city this month.
Police said they had concluded an operation and were now investigating. A spokesperson declined to comment on the perpetrator.
Bild reported that the police were called shortly before midnight and that 28 vehicles rushed to the scene.


Arab nations warn against rising Islamophobia following Qur’an burning in Denmark

Arab nations warn against rising Islamophobia following Qur’an burning in Denmark
Updated 26 March 2023

Arab nations warn against rising Islamophobia following Qur’an burning in Denmark

Arab nations warn against rising Islamophobia following Qur’an burning in Denmark
  • Extremists protrested outside the Turkish embassy also in January
  • Arab nations call on international community to hold hate crime offenders to account

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia has condemned Friday’s burning of the Qur’an and Turkish flag by Islamophobic extremists in Denmark.

The Kingdom was joined by Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar that spoke out against the acts by the extremists, saying the actions provoked hatred against Muslims – especially during Ramadan.

Far-right anti-Muslim group Patrioterne Gar Live broadcast footage on Facebook of supporters carrying banners with Islamophobic messages as they burned a copy of the Qur’an and the Turkish flag in front of the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry denounced the incident as a “hate crime” adding that it would never accept such “vile actions being allowed under the guise of freedom of expression,” Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah reported.

And the ministry called on the Danish authorities to take action against those responsible and to ensure further incidents did not happen “that threaten social harmony and peaceful coexistence,” the report added.

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates spokesperson Sinan Majali, said the act incited hatred and racism.

“Burning the Holy Qur’an is a serious act of hate and a manifestation of Islamophobia that incites violence and insults to religions and cannot be considered a form of freedom of expression at all,” Majali said in a statement.

The statement went on to urge the Danish authorities to prevent a repeat of such actions that “fuel violence and hatred and threaten peaceful coexistence.”

Meanwhile in a statement on the Kuwait Foreign Ministry warned that the burning of the Qur’an risked provoking an angry backlash from Muslims around the globe.

The ministry called for the perpetrators to held accountable, making sure that “freedom of expression is not used to offend Islam or any other religion.”

And Qatar condemned in the “strongest terms” the burning of a copy of the Qur’an, warning that the latest incident represented a “dangerous escalation” of incidents targeting Muslims.

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the burning of the Qur’an under the claim of freedom of expression “threatens the values of peaceful coexistence, and reveals abhorrent double standards.”

The ministry reaffirmed Qatar’s rejection of “all forms of hate speech based on belief, race or religion.”

The Qatari foreign ministry called on the international community to “reject hatred, discrimination, incitement and violence, underlining the importance of upholding the principles of dialogue and mutual understanding.”