Relationship dossier
Kuwait
Philippines
Relationship assessment
Labor cooperation and a worker-protection agreement coexist with recurring disputes over Filipino workers’ welfare.
Kuwait toward Philippines
-10Kuwait has employed many Filipino workers and joined the Philippines in a 2018 agreement on domestic-worker protections. Relations were strained in 2018 when Kuwait expelled the Philippine ambassador amid disputes over Philippine rescue operations and worker treatment.
Philippines toward Kuwait
+5The Philippines has sought to protect its citizens working in Kuwait, including through rescue operations that contributed to a diplomatic dispute in 2018. It also concluded a 2018 agreement with Kuwait on domestic-worker protections.
Overall relationship
+5The relationship has a durable labor dimension, with Filipino employment in Kuwait creating incentives for bilateral coordination. The 2018 worker-protection agreement is a concrete cooperative arrangement, while the diplomatic crisis over worker welfare shows that implementation and protection disputes have repeatedly strained ties.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Kuwait–Philippines relations are shaped substantially by the employment of Filipino workers in Kuwait. The governments concluded a 2018 agreement intended to protect Filipino domestic workers, following a period of acute diplomatic friction over worker welfare and Philippine rescue operations. Cooperation on labor arrangements has therefore coexisted with significant disputes over protections and deployment.
Areas of tension
- Treatment and protection of Filipino domestic workers in Kuwait.
- Philippine rescue operations and Kuwait’s response during the 2018 diplomatic crisis.
- Disputes over the implementation of worker-protection arrangements.
Key developments
Kuwait and the Philippines signed an agreement concerning employment and protections for Filipino domestic workers.
Kuwait expelled the Philippine ambassador amid a dispute over Philippine rescue operations and the treatment of Filipino workers.
Major uncertainties
- The implementation and scope of the 2018 domestic-worker protections are unclear.
- The extent and continuity of government cooperation on labor disputes after the 2018 agreement are uncertain.