FILIPINO LABOR ATTACHE SAYS MINIMUM WAGE FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004649 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS FOR NEA/ARP, INL/HSTC, AND G/TIP E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2016 TAGS: PGOV KHUM ELAB RP KU TIP SUBJECT: FILIPINO LABOR ATTACHE SAYS MINIMUM WAGE FOR DOMESTICS TO BE TRIPLED; DESCRIBES PROSTITUTION SCAM Classified By: DCM Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C/NF) PolOff met with Filipino Labor Attache Leopoldo De Jesus on December 12 to discuss recent reports that the Philippines intends to increase the monthly minimum wage for Filipino domestic workers from USD 200 to USD 400. De Jesus verified that all domestic workers leaving the Philippines as of December 16 will have to have a contract for at least USD ¶400. He hopes this will lead to domestic workers being treated as professionals rather than servants. Although he acknowledged it could drive workers underground, he is optimistic about the overall impact. Kuwaiti employers and recruitment agencies were upset and predicted that demand would shift to other, cheaper workers. De Jesus said he could not judge whether there has been an upward trend recently in organized prostitution that might be characterized as trafficking in persons. In a separate meeting, the head of Kuwait's Criminal Investigation Department said the recent reports of prostitution rings were exaggerated, but that the GOK was vigilantly checking to make sure prostitutes were not victims of force or deceit. End Summary. ¶2. (C/NF) PolOff met with Filipino Labor Attache Leopoldo De Jesus and Assistant Labor Attache Elmira Santo Domingo on December 12 to discuss recent reports that the Philippines intends to increase the monthly minimum wage for Filipino domestic workers from USD 200 to USD 400 and to increase the minimum age for domestic workers from 21 to 25 (Note: In practice the minimum wage in Kuwait for domestic workers is 40 Dinars (USD 140) per month and the Philippines Embassy has worked accordingly despite it being lower than the official USD 200 minimum mandated by its government. End Note.) De Jesus said the new regulation would go into effect December 16 and that Filipino authorities at ports of exit would not allow any Filipino domestic worker to leave for Kuwait without a contract specifying a salary of 120 Dinars (USD 415 - the Embassy has decided to round up the number). It will not be retroactive to workers already in Kuwait on lower-paying contracts. Domestic Workers Should Be Treated as Professionals -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C/NF) Angelo Jimenez, an official from the Philippines Overseas Employment Agency visited Kuwait and told PolOff on December 2 that the new policy was designed to have domestic workers treated as professionals: "If someone wants to hire a professional housekeeper, he should pay for it. If someone wants a servant, we're not interested in providing that." De Jesus added that the USD 200 minimum is 20 years old and needed updating. Building on the theme of treating domestic workers as professionals, De Jesus went on to say that no domestic worker would be allowed to leave without taking a test and receiving a certificate of competency. Those who do not pass the test would have to undergo training by the Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA). There will be a pre-orientation seminar for domestic workers that will include language training and information about the culture of the destination country. He added that he had already met with Kuwaiti recruitment agencies to encourage them to screen employers to make sure they are able to pay the new fee. ¶4. (C/NF) De Jesus said he was aware that this would likely decrease the total number of Filipino domestic workers in Kuwait and also increase the number who would work illegally. He also acknowledged that those working illegally would be more susceptible to abuse since they would not be registered with the Embassy and might be hesitant to ask the Embassy for help. However, he said it would improve the lot of domestic workers as a whole. Those working illegally would eventually be discovered, especially if they went home for a vacation and tried to come back without the proper contract, and that the Filipino employment agencies who handled them would be prosecuted. Any Kuwaiti employers who are found to be employing workers illegally will be added to the Filipino Embassy's blacklist. Kuwaitis React Negatively to Minimum Wage Hike -------------- - ¶5. (U) Newspaper reports in Kuwait described Kuwaiti employers and recruitment agents as upset about the Philippines' decision. One source from the Kuwaiti Union of Domestic Labor Offices (KUDLO) was reported as saying this KUWAIT 00004649 002 OF 002 would reduce the number of Filipino domestic workers from 100,000 to 5,000 within the next two years, as Kuwaitis looked to cheaper sources of labor. The source went on to say that no domestic workers in the Gulf get a salary higher than 60 Dinars (USD 200). He added that all Gulf countries had rejected the decision, and that Jordan and Lebanon had actually stopped the import of workers because of it. Bangladeshis Trick Filipinas into Prostitution -------------- - ¶6. (C/NF) Newspapers have run a number of reports of raids on brothels over the past several months. Brigadier General Abdulhameed Al-Awadhi, the General Manager of the Ministry of Interior's Criminal Investigation Department, told PolOff in a December 5 meeting that the CID regularly undertook such raids and that the recent media reports were sensationalized. He emphasized that there did not seem to be a more organized effort to arrange prostitution rings than in the past. He also stated that the CID arrests both the pimps and the prostitutes, and that its investigators question every woman they catch in order to determine whether she was forced into prostitution. Al-Awadhi blamed uneducated, unscrupulous Bangladeshis for these prostitution rings. ¶7. (C/NF) De Jesus said he was aware of the prostitution raids. He also accused Bangladeshis of being the culprits, saying he had heard of a situation that they offered Filipinas restaurant jobs with high salaries (USD 520 per month) as well as type 18 visas (Note: Domestic workers have type 20 visas, which are not valid for work in the private sector. Type 18 visas are necessary for anyone working in the private sector. End Note.). These Bangladeshis then put the women in "vice dens" where they are forced into prostitution. General Al-Awadhi said that sometimes the women themselves call the police if they are forced into prostitution, but that most of the prostitutes are not the victims of trickery or force. De Jesus said he was not able to judge whether the prostitution rings were common or if there is an increase in forced prostitution since he only has dealt with 20 such cases in the last year. The Filipino Embassy has retained a lawyer who is currently prosecuting some of the Filipina victims' pimps in the Kuwaiti court system. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LEBARON