MANILA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines updated on Wednesday its policy to ban the deployment of its citizens to Kuwait, allowing "returning" Filipino workers to finish their contract in Kuwait.
In an administrative order released on Wednesday, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello clarified that the ban covers "all types of workers being employed for the first time for overseas employment in Kuwait, without distinction as to skill, profession, or type of work."
However, he said that those Kuwait-based workers holidaying in the Philippines are free to return to Kuwait to finish their contract.
He said the ban also exempts those workers with existing contracts and legitimate employers, and seafarers who will transit or board in the Gulf state to join their principals.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the ban of deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait due to numerous cases of abuses, with some resulting in deaths.
A discovery of a Filipino domestic worker inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment in Kuwait has angered Duterte, who ordered the repatriation of its citizens in Kuwait.
On Monday, the Philippines started implementing Duterte's order, repatriating those who wish to return to the Philippines after suffering abuse from their employers.
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said more than 500 Filipino workers have been repatriated from Kuwait as of Wednesday.
The department said there are about 250,000 Filipinos working in Kuwait, half of whom works as domestic helpers.