VZCZCXRO3952
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #4649/01 3471243
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131243Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7886
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 1725
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 1047
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA PRIORITY 0539

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