Kuwaiti authorities rescue Filipina domestic worker after appeal on Facebook livestream

 A Filipina domestic worker was "rescued" by Kuwaiti authorities just minutes after she made an online appeal for help.

The worker posted a Facebook livestream video pleading to be rescued from her allegedly abusive employer, which quickly gained the attention of authorities.

Kuwait’s public authority for manpower and the ministry of interior worked together to locate the house helper and came to her aid within minutes, Al-Qabas newspaper reported on Monday.

An interior ministry official told Al-Qabas that the employer is now in custody and will remain in detention until an investigation is over.

The woman has been transferred to a shelter for women and once the investigation is over, the worker will be given the option to leave the country, according to the official.

The Labour attaché at the Philippines Embassy in Kuwait, Nasser Mustafa, praised the fast response of the Kuwaiti authorities.

The embassy is following up on the situation and will visit the shelter on Tuesday.

Late December, a Kuwaiti woman was sentenced to death for the murder of Jeanelyn Villavende, 26, a domestic worker who was found dead in December 2019 after months of torture by her employer.

The harsh sentence came after a diplomatic crisis between Kuwait and the Philippines in 2018, sparked by the killing of a Filipina maid.

The body of Joanna Daniela Demafelis was found in a freezer in early 2018, nearly a year after she died.

Demafelis' employers, a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife who fled the country, were sentenced to death by hanging in absentia.

Both killings saw Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte temporarily ban citizens from travelling to Kuwait.

At the height of the first ban, Duterte alleged that Kuwaiti employers routinely raped Filipina workers, forced them to work long hours, and fed them scraps.

His government then ordered its embassy staff in Kuwait to help Filipina maids flee allegedly abusive bosses, provoking the emirate to expel the Filipino ambassador.

Kuwait is not the only state to face allegations of abuse against domestic workers; Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Lebanon have also been routinely condemned over the issue by human rights groups.