Philippines apologises for saving abused maids in Kuwait as row over domestic helpers intensifies
The country’s top diplomat said sorry after videos emerged of embassy staff helping Filipinos flee from employers
The Philippines’ top diplomat apologised Tuesday after videos emerged of embassy staff helping Filipinos flee from allegedly abusive employers in Kuwait.
Kuwait had called the rescues a violation of its sovereignty, adding fuel to a simmering diplomatic row between the two nations sparked by the murder of a Philippine maid.
The first of two clips, which spread on social media after being released by the Philippine foreign ministry last week, shows a woman running from a home and jumping into a waiting vehicle.
Another depicts a person sprinting from what looks like a construction site and then speeding off in a black sport utility vehicle.
“I apologise to my counterpart and we apologise to the Kuwaiti government, the Kuwaiti people and the leaders of Kuwait if they were offended by some actions taken by the Philippine embassy in Kuwait,” Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters in Manila.