19 November 2004 – Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Bayani V. Mangibin reported to Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto G. Romulo that he has formed a committee based in the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait to assist undocumented Filipino workers in the Gulf State avail of the immigration amnesty program being offered by the Kuwaiti government to regularize the status of their stay there.

The State of Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior recently issued Ministry Resolution No. 1083/2004.  The resolution decrees that Kuwait-based expatriates, regardless of nationality, who are in violation of Kuwaiti residence regulations (i.e. expatriates who have not obtained or have an expired residence permit) are free to leave the country without any punishment or penalty.

According to the report of Ambassador Mangibin to Secretary Romulo, the government of Kuwait regularly offers amnesty to expatriates in their country with residence status problems, but without any pending criminal cases, usually before or after the holy month of Ramadan.  Ambassador Mangibin further reports that the amnesty being offered this year is unique to previous amnesties because it offers two different regularization alternatives for amnesty seekers.

One option being offered by the amnesty program is for expatriates with residence status problems to leave Kuwait from 20 November to 31 December 2004 without need to obtain consent from another party and then return to Kuwait as an employer-sponsored worker to regularize their status.  The other alternative is for the concerned expatriates to pay the required penalty and immediately regularize their status with their employer/sponsor upon settlement of their settlement of their obligations.  Those who opt to pay the prescribed penalty would not be subject to any investigation or be required to leave the country (also termed amnesty in situ).

The Philippine Embassy immediately translated the Arabic text of Interior Ministry Resolution No. 1083/2004 into English and Filipino and submitted it to the Kuwait Interior Ministry for circulation through the Kuwaiti government’s official channels.  The Philippine Embassy is also conducting a massive information campaign, including a media blitz and briefings with various Filipino community organizations to urge all concerned to avail of the amnesty program.  The Philippine Embassy produced information materials, which they circulated among Filipino communities.  To make the materials more useful, the English and Filipino texts of the information materials will be translated into other Philippine languages such as Maguindanao, Maranaw and Tausug.

Aside from information dissemination, the committee formed by Ambassador Mangibin is also tasked with providing prompt and appropriate documentation services to Filipino amnesty applicants, as well as liaising with concerned Kuwaiti authorities and guiding Filipino applicants under the jurisdiction of the immigration centers of Kuwait’s six governorates.

The Philippine Embassy will also set up a counseling desk which is to be manned by Filipino community volunteers who would be trained to answer queries regarding the amnesty.  Embassy officials likewise made representations with Kuwaiti recruitment agencies to seek their assistance in encouraging concerned Filipinos to avail of the amnesty and in financially assisting amnesty seekers.

The Embassy urges all Filipinos staying illegally in Kuwait to immediately avail of the amnesty as the same Interior Ministry Resolution provides for strict measures to be meted out on expatriates staying on without the necessary residence permit when the amnesty expires in January 2005 as prescribed by Kuwaiti law.  According to the Kuwait government, those who are in violation of residence regulations and have not left the country during the amnesty period shall not be allowed to obtain a residence permit, shall be deported and would not be allowed to return to Kuwait again.  END.