Kuwait’s foreign minister on Tuesday condemned an “escalation” by Manila after the Philippines expanded a ban on its nationals working in Kuwait. On Monday the government in Manila announced a “total ban” on new employment in Kuwait. It would include Filipinos who had already obtained employment permits but had not yet left for the Gulf country. President Rodrigo Duterte earlier lashed out at Kuwait over reports of Filipino workers suffering abuse and exploitation. “This escalation will not serve the relationship between Kuwait and the Philippines,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah told reporters in Kuwait City, AFP reported. “We condemn the statements of the Philippine president, especially since we are in contact with the Philippines… to fully explain the state of the Filipino workforce in Kuwait,” he said.