04-04-2018, 11:50 AM
Couple sentenced to death following discovery of maid’s body in freezer
![[Image: 180403-woman-found-dead-freezer-02.jpg?q...410&crop=1]](https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/180403-woman-found-dead-freezer-02.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=618&h=410&crop=1)
Joanna Demafelis loved life. She took hundreds of selfies and posted them all over social media. So it was unusual when she stopped.
Her family grew worried about the maid from the Philippines who had moved to Kuwait to support them. Their fears turned out to be justified.
In February, a full 12 months after she went missing, Demafelis’ body was discovered inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment where she’d worked for a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife.
The sixth of nine children had moved overseas in 2014 like many young Filipino women do to help their families survive. They were struggling to repair the battered family home after Typhoon Haiyan tore through.
She would call family routinely and never complained. But when the calls stopped, her family went to authorities.
The Lebanese-Syrian couple was arrested in February in the Syrian capital of Damascus following an Interpol manhunt.
Syrian authorities handed the husband, Nader Essam Assaf, over to Lebanese authorities, while his Syrian wife remained in custody in Damascus. On Sunday, the pair was sentenced in absentia to hang for their crimes, but the fallout has impacted an entire country.
Joanna Demafelis’ sister Jessica breaks down in tears over her casket.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte responded to Demafelis’ death by banning the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait, though that won’t affect the more than 250,000 Filipinos still working in the oil-rich nation.
The Philippine senate, meanwhile, has opened an inquiry into what went wrong.
The president, who is prone to making public outbursts, also lashed out at Middle Eastern nations.
“The Filipino is no slave to anyone, anywhere and everywhere,” an enraged Duterte said shortly after Demafelis’ body was found. “We send to you a Filipino worker … do not give us back a battered worker or a mutilated corpse.”
In the wake of the Demafelis murder, Manila has been working to facilitate the return of its nationals who wish to leave, including those who have lost their residency status.
Ambassador Renato Pedro Villa declined to comment on the verdict over the weekend when asked by reporters but told AFP on Sunday that his country has already repatriated 4,000 Filipino nationals living in Kuwait without the necessary paperwork.
“We are now in talks with Kuwaiti authorities to secure an amnesty that will allow 6,000 Filipinos living without papers to return,” he said.
Rights groups have voiced alarm over the plight of workers in the Gulf and other Arab countries, where migrant labor is regulated under a system known as “kafala.”
The kafala, or sponsorship, system ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers, prohibiting workers from leaving the country or changing jobs without prior consent.
In February, a casket carrying the body of Demafelis arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, four years after she left. Her relatives were inconsolable.
Back home, Philippine labor officials pledged to shoulder the repair of her family’s house — still not fixed — where relatives were preparing for her funeral.
Joanna Demafelis loved life. She took hundreds of selfies and posted them all over social media. So it was unusual when she stopped.
Her family grew worried about the maid from the Philippines who had moved to Kuwait to support them. Their fears turned out to be justified.
In February, a full 12 months after she went missing, Demafelis’ body was discovered inside a freezer in an abandoned apartment where she’d worked for a Lebanese man and his Syrian wife.
The sixth of nine children had moved overseas in 2014 like many young Filipino women do to help their families survive. They were struggling to repair the battered family home after Typhoon Haiyan tore through.
She would call family routinely and never complained. But when the calls stopped, her family went to authorities.
The Lebanese-Syrian couple was arrested in February in the Syrian capital of Damascus following an Interpol manhunt.
Syrian authorities handed the husband, Nader Essam Assaf, over to Lebanese authorities, while his Syrian wife remained in custody in Damascus. On Sunday, the pair was sentenced in absentia to hang for their crimes, but the fallout has impacted an entire country.
Joanna Demafelis’ sister Jessica breaks down in tears over her casket.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte responded to Demafelis’ death by banning the deployment of Filipino workers to Kuwait, though that won’t affect the more than 250,000 Filipinos still working in the oil-rich nation.
The Philippine senate, meanwhile, has opened an inquiry into what went wrong.
The president, who is prone to making public outbursts, also lashed out at Middle Eastern nations.
“The Filipino is no slave to anyone, anywhere and everywhere,” an enraged Duterte said shortly after Demafelis’ body was found. “We send to you a Filipino worker … do not give us back a battered worker or a mutilated corpse.”
In the wake of the Demafelis murder, Manila has been working to facilitate the return of its nationals who wish to leave, including those who have lost their residency status.
Ambassador Renato Pedro Villa declined to comment on the verdict over the weekend when asked by reporters but told AFP on Sunday that his country has already repatriated 4,000 Filipino nationals living in Kuwait without the necessary paperwork.
“We are now in talks with Kuwaiti authorities to secure an amnesty that will allow 6,000 Filipinos living without papers to return,” he said.
Rights groups have voiced alarm over the plight of workers in the Gulf and other Arab countries, where migrant labor is regulated under a system known as “kafala.”
The kafala, or sponsorship, system ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers, prohibiting workers from leaving the country or changing jobs without prior consent.
In February, a casket carrying the body of Demafelis arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, four years after she left. Her relatives were inconsolable.
Back home, Philippine labor officials pledged to shoulder the repair of her family’s house — still not fixed — where relatives were preparing for her funeral.