MANILA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine announced on Tuesday that Kuwait has agreed to extend its amnesty for overstaying Filipino workers a few days after Manila made the request to allow it to accommodate more workers who want to return to the Philippines.
In his report to Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Ambassador to Kuwait Renato Villa said the amnesty program was extended by two months until April 22.
The decision came less than a week after Cayetano formally conveyed the extension request to the Kuwaiti side.
Cayetano said the extension is being requested to allow the Philippine embassy in Kuwait to accommodate more of the 10,800 Filipinos believed to have overstayed their visas or ran away from their employers as only close to 3,000 of those qualified have applied so far.
Cayetano said the Philippine Foreign Ministry remains in close coordination with the Department of Labor and Employment to ensure a successful outcome of negotiations with the Kuwaiti government to improve protection mechanisms for the more than 250,000 Filipinos working there.
The Philippines have so far repatriated a total of 1,796 distressed Filipino workers from Kuwait.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a ban of new Filipino workers to Kuwait after reports that some of the workers suffer abuse.