Kuwait on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to the Philippines and gave the Filipino envoy in Kuwait a week to leave the country amid a diplomatic row over Filipina domestic workers in the country, the Gulf News reported.

The Foreign Ministry of Kuwait alleged that the embassy of the Philippines had violated diplomatic norms as its staff had helped Filipina domestic workers flee from their employers’ homes in Kuwait. It accused the embassy staff of the Philippines of interfering with the internal affairs of Kuwait and infringing on the work of its security agencies.

This comes a day after the foreign secretary of the Philippines, Alan Peter Cayetano, apologised to his Kuwaiti counterpart and to the government of Kuwait “if they were offended by some actions” of the embassy. Staff of the embassy of the Philippines “rescued” several domestic workers from their employers’ homes amid reports of abuse, according to Arab News.

The Filipino foreign secretary released the statement after a meeting between Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and Kuwaiti Ambassador Musaed Saleh Ahmad Al-Thwaikh, during which they discussed the matters related to the welfare of overseas Filipino workers in Kuwait.