DFA warns Filipinos vs. trafficking disguised as overseas job offers

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora, Philippine News Agency

De Vega was one of the lead officials in the effort to facilitate the immediate return of the 206 Filipinos who were forced to work in scam hubs in Myanmar. (PNA file photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday warned Filipinos to be vigilant and avoid falling victim to human trafficking by recruiters offering job listings overseas that are “too good to be true.”

This came as the Philippine government repatriated 206 Filipino human trafficking victims from Myanmar this week.

“(L)alo na dito sa Southeast Asia, hindi puwede magtrabaho kung walang work visa. Kaya kung ang pangako sa inyo ay sisipot lang kayo, hindi totoo iyon (Especially here in Southeast Asia, you cannot work if you don’t possess a work visa. So, if the condition is you only have to show up, that is a trap),” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega said in a Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon interview.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it is not true.”

De Vega was one of the lead officials in the effort to facilitate the immediate return of the 206 Filipinos who were forced to work in scam hubs in Myanmar.

The latest repatriates flew back to the Philippines on two different flights via Thailand on Tuesday and Wednesday.

De Vega assured that the 206 repatriates would get reintegration assistance from the Philippine government, including a PHP50,000 cash aid from the Department of Migrant Workers on top of the USD200 cash given by the DFA while they were in Thailand.

The 206, De Vega said, were able to return after the scam hubs they were working in closed down amid the crackdown by Myanmar, in cooperation with Thailand and China.

“Right now, sa Myanmar tingin ko mababawasan na iyan kasi nga sinasara na itong mga scam hubs. Pero ang mangyayari diyan ay lilipat lang sila ng bansa. Baka pumunta silang Africa (I think such cases of trafficking in Myanmar would decrease because the scam hubs are closing down. But what will happen is that they will just move out of the country, maybe they will go to Africa),” he said.

“So, huwag magpaloko. Kung hindi dadaan ng job contract ng verified ng DMW at walang work visa ay maaaring human trafficking victims ang labas ninyo (So, don’t be fooled. If the job contract is not verified by DMW and the offer does not include a work visa, you could end up as human trafficking victims.”