Philippines and Kuwait urged to try quiet diplomacy to fix damaged ties

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses media at the Davao international airport, southern Philippines, after returning from the 32nd ASEAN Summit in Singapore. (Office of the President photo)
Updated 30 April 2018
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Philippines and Kuwait urged to try quiet diplomacy to fix damaged ties

  • Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros accuses Duterte of “gambling" with the lives and employment of hundreds of thousands of Filipino workers in Kuwait
  • Former Foreign Affairs undersecretary Lauro Baja urges quiet diplomacy to fix the damaged ties with Kuwait

MANILA: A veteran Filipino diplomat on Sunday urged the Philippine and Kuwaiti governments to try quiet diplomacy to repair their damaged ties. 

"(I)t’s up to the respective governments to repair whatever damage is done through quiet diplomacy, not through press releases or press conferences,” said former Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Lauro Baja as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte scrapped a proposed labor deal with Kuwait and announced a permanent ban on Filipinos working there.

Duterte made his dramatic announcement shortly after calling on 260,000 Filipinos in Kuwait to return home amid an escalating diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Arriving in Davao early on Sunday after his visit to Singapore for the ASEAN summit, Duterte said he was saddened by the turn of events and had been planning to go to Kuwait for a scheduled signing of a proposed agreement to ensure protection of overseas Filipino workers there.

“The ban stays permanently. There will be no more recruitment, especially for domestic helpers,” Duterte told reporters at Davao international airport. 

The Philippine government suspended the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait in February following the death of Joanna Demafelis, a maid whose body was found stuffed in a freezer. Since then, both countries have been negotiating an agreement to provide better protection and treatment for Filipinos working in the Arab nation. 

Amid the growing diplomatic crisis, experts and lawmakers are advising the Philippine president to rethink his decision and find a diplomatic solution to the problem. 

Concerns were raised that the situation may go beyond the Kuwaiti borders and spill over to other countries, affecting the livelihoods of more than 2 million Filipinos in the region.


Hope for a happy compromise

Baja told Arab News that relations between the two countries are generally good.

“Kuwait needs our workers for their economy, and we need Kuwait for our overseas workers,” he said.

Both countries “have valid reasons for their actions,” Baja said.

“I hope a happy compromise between these competing concerns can be made and I am hopeful it can be done through diplomacy,” he said.

Baja expressed concern that the situation “may go beyond the Kuwaiti borders and spill over to the other countries” in the Middle East.

“If that happens, it will be very costly because we have up to 3 million Filipinos there (Middle East),” he said. “So whatever solutions we have, this should be done through quiet diplomacy and maybe cut back on strong words. Let the tensions simmer.

“What Kuwait did was an extreme measure, declaring our ambassador persona non grata. But to some extent we must also understand them because we violated some of their laws,” he said.


'Gambling with workers' lives'

Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros accused Duterte of “gambling with the lives and employment of hundreds of thousands of overseas workers in Kuwait.”

"It is extremely reckless, shortsighted and uncaring. President Duterte should stop gambling with the lives and employment of thousands of OFWs, and the welfare of their families, in a desperate attempt to break the diplomatic impasse with Kuwait. This is not a game. We are talking about the lives and future of our OFWs and their loved ones,” Hontiveros said.

“Are we even talking about the same Philippines? President Duterte is promising our OFWs jobs back in our country when he can’t even sign an Executive Order (EO) to address labor contractualization and protect the workers’ security of tenure. His administration doesn’t even have an alternative economic strategy to the country’s labor export policy,” the senator said.

Meanwhile, migration and recruitment expert Emmanuel Geslani said that more than 100,000 skilled overseas workers in the oil-rich kingdom were unlikely to heed Duterte’s call for them to return to the country.

“The skilled workers are needed in Kuwait by the government and private sector, and they hold lucrative jobs. There is nothing for them in the Philippines and their current jobs pay two or three three times more than earned previously,” Geslani said.

“That is why most of these overseas workers are working abroad, thousands of kilometers away from their families. There are no jobs in the country that can match their present positions in Kuwait,” he said.


Daesh group claims attack on Sufi shrine in Afghanistan

An Afghan policeman stands guard in Kabul. (AFP file photo)
Updated 7 sec ago
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Daesh group claims attack on Sufi shrine in Afghanistan

  • A local resident, who said he knew victims of the attack, said worshippers had gathered at the Sayed Pasha Agha shrine on Thursday evening

KABUL: Daesh (IS-K), the terrorist group’s branch in Afghanistan, on Saturday claimed responsibility for a gun attack that left 10 people dead at a Sufi shrine in northern Baghlan province.
Taliban authorities in Kabul have repeatedly said they have defeated IS-K, but the group regularly claims responsibility for attacks, notably against Sufi or Shiite minorities, targets they consider heretical.
On Friday, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani told AFP that a gunman opened fire on Sufis “taking part in a weekly ritual” at a shrine in a remote area of Nahrin district, killing 10 people.
A local resident, who said he knew victims of the attack, said worshippers had gathered at the Sayed Pasha Agha shrine on Thursday evening.
They had begun a Sufi chant when “a man shot at the dozen worshippers,” he said on condition of anonymity.
“When people arrived for morning prayers, they discovered the bodies,” he added.
The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, wrote on X: “Religious minorities remain under grave threat. More prevention, protection & justice needed.”
The Daesh group accuses Sufis of worshipping more than one god because of their devotion to saints.
In mid-September, the group claimed responsibility for an attack in central Afghanistan that killed 14 people who had gathered to welcome pilgrims returning from Karbala in Iraq, one of the holiest sites for Shiites.

 


India opposes COP29 finance deal after it is adopted

Updated 12 min 30 sec ago
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India opposes COP29 finance deal after it is adopted

BAKU: India strongly objected to a climate finance deal agreed at the United Nations COP29 summit on Sunday, but their objection was raised after the deal was formally adopted by consensus.
“I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion. This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document,” Indian delegation representative Chandni Raina told the closing plenary session of the summit.

 

 


UN climate chief says ‘no time for victory laps’ after COP29 deal

Updated 23 min 7 sec ago
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UN climate chief says ‘no time for victory laps’ after COP29 deal

BAKU, Azerbaijan: UN climate chief Simon Stiell on Sunday said it was “no time for victory laps” after nations at COP29 in Azerbaijan agreed a bitterly negotiated finance deal.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps,” Stiell said in a statement.


Mass rape trial sparks demonstrations across France

Updated 36 min 54 sec ago
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Mass rape trial sparks demonstrations across France

  • Police sources said 35,000 people had turned out across the country, while organizers put the figure at 100,000

PARIS: Tens of thousands demonstrated in major French cities Saturday against violence targeting women, as campaigners push for the country to learn from a mass rape trial that has shocked the public.
The prosecution in the southern city Avignon is in its final stages for 51 men, including one who drugged his wife over the course of a decade and dozens of others charged with accepting his invitations to abuse her at their home.
Out on the street, “the more of us there are, the more visible we are, this is everyone’s business, not just women,” said Peggy Plou, an elected official from the Indre-et-Loire region in western France who had made the trip to Paris.
Thousands of people marched in the capital alone, mostly women but including some children and men. Police put the turnout there at 12,500, while organizers said 80,000.
Police sources said 35,000 people had turned out across the country, while organizers put the figure at 100,000.
Hundreds also turned out in other major cities including Marseille in the south, Lille in the northeast and Rennes in the northwest. Local officials in Bordeaux, in the southwest, put the turnout there at 1,600.
Many demonstrators carried signs with variations on the slogan “Shame must switch sides,” popularised by the plaintiff in the Avignon trial, Gisele Pelicot.
She has become a feminist hero for choosing public hearings in her case rather than a trial behind closed doors, despite their painful content.

“A law about consent must be put in place very quickly. Just because someone doesn’t say something, doesn’t mean that they agree” to sexual contact, said Marie-Claire Abiker, 78, a retired nurse who marched in Paris.
France’s legal definition of rape calls it “any act of sexual penetration... by violence, constraint, threats or surprise” but includes no language about consent — a key demand of women’s rights groups especially since the MeToo movement launched in the late 2010s.
“In 2018, there were basically only women (demonstrating). Today there are, let’s say, 30 percent men. That’s really great news,” said Amy Bah, a member of the NousToutes (All of us women) feminist group protesting in Lille.
“I feel like this is my business too, we each have our role to play, especially men,” said Arnaud Garcette, 38, at the Marseille demonstration in the city’s historic port with his two children.
“We’re at the source of the problem, and at the source of the solutions too,” he added.
The demonstrations, called by more than 400 campaign groups, come two days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Monday.
Equality Minister Salima Saa has promised “concrete and effective” measures to coincide with the global day.
According to a report in Sunday’s Tribune Dimanche weekly, Prime Minister Michel Barnier will announce measures including increased training for police officers and more support for victims of domestic violence who leave their home.
The campaigners who organized Saturday’s protests are calling for more far-reaching measures, including a dedicated 2.6 billion-euro ($2.7 billion) budget and a stronger legal framework to tackle the problem.
During his first term as French president, Emmanuel Macron vowed to prioritize the cause of equality between men and women and to work to eliminate violence against women.
 

 


US reels from rain, snow as second round of bad weather approaches for Thanksgiving week

Updated 41 min 5 sec ago
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US reels from rain, snow as second round of bad weather approaches for Thanksgiving week

  • A winter storm warning in California’s Sierra Nevada on Saturday was in effect through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph

WINDSOR, California: The US was reeling from snow and rain on Saturday with a second round of bad weather threatening to disrupt holiday travel ahead of Thanksgiving. A person was found dead in a vehicle submerged in floodwaters in California, which braced for more precipitation while still grappling with flooding and small landslides from a previous storm. And thousands in the Pacific Northwest remained without power after multiple days in the dark.
A winter storm warning in California’s Sierra Nevada on Saturday was in effect through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph). Total snowfall of roughly 4 feet (1.2 meters) was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations coming Monday and Tuesday.
Forecasters said the Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday, and the East Coast will be the most impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
A low pressure system will bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast, where areas from Boston to New York could see rain and strong winds. Parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks could get snow. If the system tracks further inland, the forecast would call for less snow for the mountains and more rain.
Deadly ‘bomb cyclone’ on West Coast

The storm on the West Coast arrived in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, mostly in the Seattle area, before its strong winds moved through Northern California. The system roared ashore on the West Coast on Tuesday as a ” bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. It unleashed fierce winds that toppled trees onto roads, vehicles and homes.
Santa Rosa, California, saw its wettest three-day period on record with about 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) of rain falling by Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service in the Bay Area. On Saturday vineyards in Windsor, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) to the north, were flooded.
To the west, rescue crews in Guerneville recovered a body inside a vehicle bobbing in floodwaters around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, according to Rob Dillion, a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy and spokesperson. The deceased was presumed to be a victim of the storm, but an autopsy had not yet been conducted.
Dominick Conti, a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter, and a friend drove around the Santa Rosa area Friday helping people whose vehicles were swamped. With his 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck and a set of ropes, they were able to rescue the driver of a sedan that stalled out in water, a truck stuck in a giant mudhole and a farmer stranded on a dirt road.
Tens of thousands remain without power in Seattle area
Some 80,000 people in the Seattle area were still without electricity after this season’s strongest atmospheric river — a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows over land. Crews worked to clear streets of downed lines, branches and other debris, while cities opened warming centers so people heading into their fourth day without power could get warm food and plug in their cellphones and other devices.
The power came back in the afternoon at Katie Skipper’s home in North Bend, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of the city in the foothills of the Cascades, after being out since Tuesday. It was tiring to take cold showers, rely on a wood stove for warmth and use a generator to keep the refrigerator cold, Skipper said, but those inconveniences paled in comparison to the damage other people suffered, such as from fallen trees.
“That’s really sad and scary,” she said.
Northeast gets much-needed precipitation
Another storm brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where rare wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. Parts of West Virginia were under a blizzard warning through Saturday morning, with up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow and high winds making travel treacherous.
Despite the mess, the precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions after an exceptionally dry fall.
“It’s not going to be a drought buster, but it’s definitely going to help when all this melts,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.
Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Less than 80,000 customers in 10 counties lost power, and the state transportation department imposed speed restrictions on some highways.
Parts of West Virginia also experienced their first significant snowfall of the season Friday and overnight Saturday, with up to 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) in the higher elevations of the Allegheny Mountains. Some areas were under a blizzard warning.
The precipitation helped put a dent in the state’s worst drought in at least two decades. It also was a boost for West Virginia ski resorts preparing to open their slopes in the weeks ahead.