Losing slaves upsets Muslims

The Philippines has demanded an explanation for Kuwait's decision to expel its ambassador amid a dispute over the treatment of domestic workers.

The two nations have been attempting to resolve the dispute since February, when the body of a murdered Filipina maid was discovered in Kuwait .

The fact that Kuwaitis and other oil-rich, Muslim Arab countries have been importing desperate workers and then seizing their passports to use them like slaves for decades is not the problem.

The problem, in the eyes of Muslims, is the exposure of this evil.

Last Saturday, the Philippine foreign ministry published two video clips said to show teams from the embassy in Kuwait carrying out "rescues" of Filipino domestic workers. In one, a woman is seen running from a block of flats and being helped into a waiting car by a man.

On Wednesday, the Kuwaiti foreign ministry announced it had declared Philippine ambassador Renato Pedro Villa persona non grata and asked him to leave the country within a week.