Joanna Demafelis, 29, was found frozen in her employers’ apartment more than a year after she was reported missing.

Nader Essam Assaf was arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of murder, the Philippines department of foreign affairs said on Friday.

Ms Demafelis’s death prompted outrage in the Philippines and a ban on Filipinos travelling to work in Kuwait.

Mr Assaf, a Lebanese national, was arrested in his home country, the Philippines department of foreign affairs said in a statement.

His Syrian wife Mona, who is also a suspect, remains on the run, and is believed to be in Syria, it added.

Both suspects were the subject of an international manhunt aided by Interpol.

Philippines foreign secretary Alan Peter Cayetano welcomed the news, calling it a “critical first step in our quest for justice for Joanna”.

How was Ms Demafelis’s death discovered?

Her body was found this month with apparent signs of torture, Philippine officials said, in an apartment that had apparently been abandoned for at least a year.

In the aftermath of the discovery, Philippine authorities say they facilitated the return of more than 1,000 “distressed overseas Filipino workers” in Kuwait, most of whom had worked as household servants.

The country’s department of foreign affairs estimate that some 252,000 of its citizens are living and working there.

Kuwaiti authorities, meanwhile, have vowed to do everything possible to see justice is done.

Mr Cayetano said he expected Kuwaiti authorities to request the extradition of Mr Assaf from Lebanon, to stand trial in Kuwait.

–

Source: BBC

The post Employer of Filipina maid found dead in freezer arrested appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This follows a three-month amnesty granted illegal residents by the Saudi government to leave or be sanctioned.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway explained in a Citi News interview that the Ghana government is subsidizing the cost of travel of some individuals while others would be transported back home free of charge.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9ACojOVEuXaM2K8MN84NTZ6TLCTLZZSN”]“They’ve been given an extended deadline of 24^th of July so any time after that they will be coming and these are voluntary returnees. We have assisted in reducing the fees for the travel certificate and instances they can’t afford it give it to them. And the international Organization on Migration is also helping by getting them tickets to come back,” she added.

Over 500 Ghanaians to be repatriated

The Ghana Embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in May 2017 appealed to Ghanaians living in that country without residency and work permits to take advantage of a package by the Embassy to return them to Ghana.

Ghana’s mission at the time said over 500 people applied voluntarily to be repatriated.

This was because Saudi Arabia announced a 90-day amnesty for persons living in that country illegally who wished to return to their countries of origin as part of the Kingdom’s “A Nation Without Illegal Expatriates” campaign.

Abuses and maltreatment

There have been several reported cases of abuses and maltreatment of Ghanaians who usually take up jobs as maids and nannies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Several female Ghanaians were rescued in Kuwait by the Ghanaian Embassy in 2015.

According to Ghana’s mission, it is regrettable to note that both Ghanaian agents and their foreign counterparts mislead prospective Ghanaian workers by promising them non-existent juicy offers which turn out to be a hell for most of these workers.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Over 800 Ghanaians in Saudi Arabia to return home appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

There have been a series of reports on maltreatment of Ghanaian who visit Kuwait as domestic workers in Kuwait.

[contextly_sidebar id=”EJ6O8EI5TL5xB5fbSClSvmwDJBeSqMBf”]But Mr. Ablakwa believes the establishment of a mission in Kuwait will tackle the inhumane treatment some Ghanaians go through during their stay there.

“I will say that honourable Foreign Minister did provide a comprehensive response but I think this should be the beginning of how moving forward, we guarantee better protection of our citizens in the Gulf region…Some people will send videos of their relatives in the Gulf state and we need to put in an emergency response to rescue a number of our citizens who are in distress…”

Mr. Ablakwa further indicated that the move will afford government an opportunity to register its displeasure over the abuse of Ghanaian citizens to government officials in Kuwait.

“It is clear to me, listening to the Minister today, that there is the need now for emergency response. As we speak, we do not even have a hotline for emergency response. There are female workers who are being raped , enslaved, assaulted on a daily basis… We also have not had a high level delegation go to these countries to meet these governments to communicate our strongest revulsion and opposition to what is happening in this country and to urge them to take action.”

Meanwhile, National Security has been tasked to probe allegations of maltreatment meted out to some 63 Ghanaians who were recently deported.

According to the Foreign Affairs Minister, this has become necessary due to conflicting reports received from the deportees and the US Embassy on the treatment on the board a chartered flight to Ghana.

“This particular matter is the word of the US authorities against that of the Ghanaians who were repatriated but we haven’t instituted any investigation into the matter because that lies in the domain of the national security and we expect them to do so,” she said.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

The post Kuwait mission will rescue distressed Ghanaian citizens – Ablakwa appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

A total of 178 pills were found in the fabric pocket attached to its back, the newspaper says.

The bird was caught near the customs building in Abdali, close to the border with Iraq.

An al-Rai journalist said the drugs were a form of ketamine, an anaesthetic also used as an illegal party drug.

Abdullah Fahmi told the BBC that customs officials already knew pigeons were being used to smuggle drugs, but this was the first time they had caught a bird in the act.

Law enforcement officials elsewhere have, however, identified previous cases where pigeons have been used to carry lightweight high-value narcotics.

In 2015, prison guards in Costa Rica caught a pigeon carrying cocaine and cannabis in a zipped pouch.

And in 2011, Colombian police discovered a pigeon that was unable to fly over a high prison wall because of the weight of a package of cocaine and marijuana strapped to it.

Pigeons have been used to carry messages since Roman times, using their powerful “homing” ability.

Racing pigeons can return to their lofts from distances of hundreds of kilometres.

–

Source: BBC

The post Pigeon ‘caught with backpack of drugs’ appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Saudi Arabia, in March 2017, announced a 90-day amnesty for persons living in that country illegally who wished to return to their countries of origin as part of the Kingdom’s “A Nation Without Illegal Expatriates” campaign.

Although the amnesty will expire on June 25, 2017, it seems most Ghanaians in Saudi Arabia are bent on staying in the country.

“Since the beginning of the General Amnesty two months ago, the Ghana Embassy in Riyadh and the Ghana Consulate in Jeddah have processed more than five hundred emergency travel documents (Travelers Certificates) for Ghanaians who have violated their residency and work permits, enabling them to take advantage of the General Amnesty to leave the Kingdom,” a statement from the Embassy said.

[contextly_sidebar id=”FtocgBSZvtDdlKjAIzK16TcnKNVAq1N3″]According to the Embassy, it is “still processing these emergency travel documents for Ghanaians who wish to leave at a highly subsidized cost of SR50 (Saudi Riyals) instead of SR200” and that anyone who fails to take advantage of the package will have themselves to blame.

“Any Ghanaian illegal resident who fails to take advantage of this General Amnesty program should be ready to face any penalty or consequences thereof as a result of their actions or inactions. Both the Embassy and the Consulate should not be blamed for any unforeseen occurrences after the expiration of the General Amnesty program given that the Mission does not have any more resources to troubleshoot self-inflicted consular problems,” the statement signed by acting Head of Mission at the Embassy, Marcel Domayele added.

Abuses and maltreatment

There have been several reported cases of abuses and maltreatment of Ghanaians who usually take up jobs as maids and nannies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Several female Ghanaians were rescued in Kuwait by the Ghanaian Embassy in 2015.

According to the Embassy, it is regrettable to note that both Ghanaian agents and their foreign counterparts mislead prospective Ghanaian workers by promising them non-existent juicy offers which turn out to be a hell for most of these workers.

“The Ghana Embassy is currently overwhelmed with cases of Ghanaian domestic workers (house maids) who have fallen victims of such unfortunate pranks and misrepresentation of these agents. And it is against this background that the Embassy in the strongest possible terms warns the youth of Ghana to desist from making any plans of traveling to the GCC states to work as unskilled workers. We urge the young people of Ghana to seek information from the Embassy about any shoddy contracts even before embarking on their travel to these countries,” the statement added.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Over 500 Ghanaians to be repatriated from Saudi Arabia appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The live-action remake of the classic animation makes LeFou, villain Gaston’s sidekick, the first openly gay character in a Disney film.

A board member at the National Cinema Company, which operates most of Kuwait’s cinemas, said an edited version might be screened later this week.

Disney is yet to comment on the move.

Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast, has taken more than $350m (£282m) around the world and opened in Kuwait on Thursday, rated PG-13.

But the National Cinema Company – which runs 11 of the 13 cinemas in the predominantly Muslim country – contacted those who had tickets to see the film on Monday to say the screenings had been cancelled.

It cited “unforeseen difficulties” and promised a full refund.

Board member Duaij Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah told the Associated Press news agency: “We were requested to stop the screening and further censor the movie for things that were deemed offensive by the Ministry of Information’s censorship department.”

The film’s “exclusively gay moment” earlier led to censors in Malaysia requesting edits, but Disney pulled the film from release there. A drive-in cinema in the US state of Alabama has also cancelled screenings of the film.

The film sees Josh Gad star as LeFou, opposite Luke Evans’ Gaston.

–

Source: BBC

The post Beauty and the Beast pulled from cinemas in Kuwait appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.