4 human trafficking victims back home from Myanmar
FOUR Filipino victims of human trafficking were repatriated from Myanmar, the Bureau of Immigration reported.
The Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) said the latest batch of repatriates, consists of two women and two men who arrived last June 26.
The illegal recruitment victims arrived via a Thai Airways flight from Myanmar.
All four left the country posing as tourists to Hong Kong, Thailand, and Taiwan, but were transported to Myanmar via boat.
The victims admitted they were initially promised call center jobs but were forced to work as customer service representatives engaged in online scams, mirroring previous repatriates.
“Pilipino rin ang recruiter nila,” said BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco. “It’s sad to hear that our own kababayan facilitates the trafficking other Pinoys. Dinadala pa sa kapahamakan ang kababayan nila,” he lamented.
The victims said they wanted to resign but they were prevented and told to pay hefty penalties before they could be released. Two of the victims did not receive their last salaries, while the other two were made to pay 5,000 RMB or more than P127,000.
The BI said that despite the numerous warnings government agencies give, human trafficking still persists. “Trafficked Filipinos are forcibly transported to illegally cross borders to get to a remote location where it would be hard to escape,” said Tansingco.
