Amid backlash over OFW rant, Kuwaiti blogger tells critics to redirect outrage to humanitarian crises

MANILA, Philippines — Amid criticism over comments on the rights of overseas Filipino workers, a Kuwaiti beauty blogger said her critics should redirect their outrage to the humanitarian crises in Syria, Iraq and Gaza instead.

According to a report Wednesday by the Arabian Business, Sondos Al Qattan remains unapologetic and is adamant that criticisms on her comment about the rights of Filipino workers are “an intentional effort to damage Kuwait and the wider Gulf region.”

Qattan on July 10 released a video on her Instagram that called the agreement between Kuwait and the Philippines allowing Filipino workers to keep their passports and have rest days “pathetic.”

She said there is no way to know where a worker—or a Filipino maid—would go if he or she has a passport in possession on a rest day.

“How can you have a ‘servant’ in your house who gets to keep their passport with them? And what’s worse is they have one day off every week,” Qattan said in the post which was translated into English.

Qattan was criticizing the deal between the two countries, signed by Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah last May 11.

The inking of the memorandum of agreement came after tensions rose between the countries due to several reported incidents of abuses or deaths of Filipinos working as domestic helpers.

Article 21 of the United Nations’ International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families states that it is unlawful for a person to “confiscate, destroy or attempt to destroy identity documents, documents authorizing entry to or stay, residence or establishment in the national territory or work permits.”

Although Kuwait is not a signatory to the convention.

Kuwait, however, passed a domestic worker law in 2015 which states that domestic workers should have a paid weekly break and paid annual leave. Employers are also not allowed to confiscate any of the domestic worker’s personal identity documents like the passport without the latter’s consent. Human Rights Watch had hailed this law as a breakthrough but noted that it failed to specify penalties in case an employer takes possession of the worker’s passport.  

READ: Kuwaiti blogger faces blacklisting – POEA

Growing backlash

Beauty brands have already severed ties with the social media influencer who has 116,000 followers on her now private Twitter account and 2.3 million followers on her Instagram.

Among brands that cut ties were makeup companies Max Factor Arabia and Chelsea Beautique as well as French perfume label M Micallef and US haircare brand Phyto. Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido and Korean makeup brand Etude House meanwhile said they are not supporting remarks made by Al Qattan but have yet to respond if they have dropped the Kuwaiti beauty blogger, Gulf News reported in a story published on Tuesday and updated on Thursday.

Al Qattan, however, hit back and said that she would reveal brands that had cut ties with her so her followers could boycott them.

An Arabian social media influencer Khalid Al Ameri, meanwhile, criticized Al Qattan for her remarks.

In a video posted on his Facebook page, Ameri said that if he works for her, he would run as far as he can away from the beauty blogger “out of fear that you might find me and that you might ask me to work for you again.”

“How would you feel if you worked for someone that did not only give you the day off but disagree with the very ideology that you deserve a day off?” he asked.

While Ameri said that he is averse to using the word “hate,” he would use it to refer to people “who disagree with someone’s human rights based on where they’re from, what they look like or what they believe in.”

Khalid’s Facebook page boasts of 1.2 million followers and 935,000 likes. — Kristine Joy Patag