Dubai: More than 23,000 overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait have lost their jobs amid the coronavirus pandemic and are now displaced, according to the Philippine Charge d’ Affaires to Kuwait Charleson Hermosura.
Some of the 23,000 are on a “no work, no pay” status, Philippine Charge d’ Affaires said. 4,000 displaced oversees worker have been repatriated since March.
Around 5,011 Filipino workers have received the one-time USD200 cash assistance under the Department of Labour and Employment’s Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) programme.
According to local Kuwaiti media, thirty-one Filipinos in the country have died due to COVID-19 with four healthcare workers among the dead. Meanwhile, some 300 Filipinos contracted the virus but around 260 have already recovered.
There are around 240,000 OFWs in Kuwait, 65 per cent of which are domestic workers while 35 per cent are professionals, skilled and semi-skilled workers that are enduring trying times during the pandemic.
