By Ben Garcia

KUWAIT: As the grace period for Filipino amnesty applicants concluded yesterday, they still have a 'second chance' in the last five days of the month-long amnesty period granted by the Kuwaiti government to all nationalities in April. As of Saturday, the number of amnesty takers according to the interior ministry stands at 1,400, apart from the Saturday count, which was 482 (444 females and 38 males).

Philippine Embassy Welfare Officer Attorney Llewelyn Perez said applications of a number of undocumented Filipinos were rejected at the amnesty processing sites for various reasons. "Unfortunately, some Filipinos were rejected, including those who have outstanding dues owed to local banks, individuals and telcos. They are not permitted to leave. Those with outstanding cases in the court are also being rejected," she said.

Overall, according to Perez, the five-day amnesty period given to undocumented Filipinos went smoothly and peacefully. "The Philippine Embassy and all Filipinos in Kuwait would like to thank the Kuwaiti government for their generosity. We are grateful to all who assisted us. The Kuwaiti authorities helped and dedicated their time to make the process run smoothly. Filipinos also demonstrated discipline and we thank them as well for their utmost cooperation despite the danger, god forbid, of the coronavirus. Thank you Kuwait for this," she said.

Bella, not her real name, is an amnesty applicant who was turned down when she went yesterday at the venue. "I came here at the advice of my friend. Since I have two kids in the Philippines, I want to be with them during this pandemic. I have a KD 2,500 loan at the bank - I've not paid a single dinar yet. In fact it was not my loan - I only acted as a guarantor for my colleague.

Now I have a travel ban and cannot get an iqama because of that. I wanted to take advantage of this amnesty, but I was rejected," a sobbing Bella told Kuwait Times. She went there with her luggage as advised by the embassy and was waiting for her friend to pick her up again.

Several Filipino males who couldn't avail of the amnesty were stranded at the gate of the center. "I have a UAE residency visa, since I work there. Since there are no flights to Dubai, I tried this amnesty route, but I wasn't accepted. My Kuwait visit visa expired two weeks ago," said Jerry, who was at the gate waiting for private transport.

Residency violators in Kuwait have been granted a 30-day period to leave Kuwait without paying fines or airfare from April1-30. Violators are received from 8 am till 2 pm according to the following dates and nationalities: Philippines (April 1-5, 2020), Egypt (April 6-10), India (April 11-15), Bangladesh (April 16-20), Sri Lanka (April 21-25), other nationalities (April 26-30, 2020).