It is a tragedy to welcome the new year with the death of a Filipina OFW.

The Commission on Human Rights expresses its deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Jeanelyn Villavende, an overseas Filipina worker in Kuwait.

Information reaching authorities in the Philippines claim that Jeanelyn allegedly died in the hands of her employer. This violence happened in spite of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Philippines and Kuwait signed in 2018 granting better protection for the rights of Filipinos working in the Gulf state.

With another episode of violence and abuse, the challenge is to ensure that the MOA does not remain a piece of document, but would genuinely translate to meaningful protection and promotion of the rights of our overseas Filipino workers. We are urging the Kuwaiti government to fulfil their commitments under the MOA in order to finally put a stop these abuses and for them to uphold the Filipino workers’ rights in their country.

As we call on the Kuwaiti Government to fulfill its commitments under the MOA, we likewise urge the Philippine Government to improve its mechanisms in monitoring and preventing Filipinos working abroad from being further exploited and abused.

Closer and concrete coordination mechanisms between the agencies handling Filipino migrant worker concerns—such as the Department of Labor and Employment and its attached agencies, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and our embassies—should be functioning and well placed so that any form of abuse is immediately addressed, senseless deaths are put to a stop, and swift justice is obtained by our OFWs.

We condemn the gruesome death of Jeanelyn. No one should ever find themselves in harm’s way for simply seeking better opportunities abroad so that they may provide for their families and loved ones at home.

We call on both the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments to apply the fullest extent of the law in assuring that justice is served to Jeanelyn and her family and that every perpetrator is held to account.

For our part, CHR shall continue to monitor this case and the subsequent actions from the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments in addressing this tragedy. A partial deployment ban may be the response of government as a reaction to this tragedy but a more studied and permanent solution must be found in order to put a stop to any and all forms of abuses suffered by our OFWs especially in Kuwait where we already have a MOA for the protection of our OFWs.

At the same time, we encourage government to continuously look into spurring opportunities in the Philippines so that less and less of our workers would be forced to seek employment aboard as a matter of need—equally bearing in mind the social costs of overseas work to families left behind. CHR