The Bureau of Immigration (BI) shared the recent repatriation of three victims of human trafficking from Myanmar.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that the three victims arrived last August 17, on board a Philippine Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand.
The victims, in their 20s to 40s, were made up of two females and one male.
One of the victims departed the Philippines for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2021 with her Pakistani fiancé and lived in Dubai with a spouse visa. She saw an advertisement on Facebook called Dubai Group Job Hiring, offering USD 1,000 monthly income, with free food and lodging.
She traveled to Myanmar via Bangkok, Thailand from the UAE. Upon her arrival in Thailand, she was fetched they travelled for 10 hours on a van before transferring to a fishing boat.
The victim said that she did not expect to work in Myanmar as she was promised work in Thailand only. She was made to work as a bitcoin scammer and had to pay 60,000 Thai Baht to be allowed to go home.
The second female victim left as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) but was recruited in the same manner. The male victim also relayed that they were housed in an enclosed location in the middle of a jungle and likewise had to pay for his release.
BI: Repatriated victims forced to live in jungle by traffickers
Tansingco urged aspiring overseas workers not to accept offers online to work abroad illegally. “This is a big syndicate operating in several Asian countries,” he stated. “We are the first country to raise the alarm against this modus, and we aim to be the first to eliminate this in our country by helping arrest and jail the recruiters,” he added.
All victims were assisted by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).
Meanwhile, Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that despite several warnings, Filipino victims of crypto scam hubs continue to attempt to depart to work illegally.
Tansingco cited a case involving 4 Filipina workers intercepted last August 18 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 after attempting to depart for Cambodia on board a Philippine Airlines aircraft.
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