Filipino victims of labor trafficking schemes by online scam hubs in Cambodia decried injustice at a media forum by overseas Filipino workers (OFW) group Migrante International last Saturday.
In a press conference to expose forced labor, maltreatment, and unjust detention in Cambodia, the victims said they were enticed by online overseas job offers as call center agents but were instead forced to work as scammers.
The workers said they were brought to large, secluded and guarded building complexes in north Cambodia, where they court, phish and fraud fellow Filipinos online under strict quotas and threats of physical abuse.
The victims also complained of inadequate assistance from the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government as shown by slow waves of repatriation since April.
Victims who reached out to the Philippine embassy in Phnom Penh are kept in Cambodian detention centers that were dirty and had scant access to food, water and sanitation, the victims revealed.
The victims slammed the Philippine government for its lack of assistance in the form of food supplies and medical care, as well delays in repatriation to the Philippines.
The victims said the support they received came from Migrante International and support groups Churches Witnessing With Migrants – Philippines, as well as former representative Bayan Muna and Gabriela representative Liza Maza, principal author of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.
“Is the Marcos government so shameless that it chooses to disregard human trafficking victims? It is so slow in giving food, water and other essentials to detained victims,” Migrante International deputy secretary general Josie Pingkian asked at the forum.
“If they are even slower at processing the victims’ repatriation, what more about our demand for justice?” she added.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for its part said it is “stepping up efforts” to rescue and repatriate Filipino workers victimized by human traffickers and scam hubs across Southeast Asia.
Migrant Workers secretary Hans Leo Cacdac told reporters he is wondering why even professionals are now being victimized by scammers and illegal recruiters.
“There are many victims now who have higher educational attainment, college level. So we wonder why they are going there,” he said.
Cacdac reminded those seeking foreign employment to always follow legal recruitment processes.
Migrante International however said the Marcos administration must take the victims’ complaints seriously and offer more than pieces of advice.
The group said the government must “immediately rescue” Filipinos still in the scam hubs and remove and transfer OFWs in Cambodian detention centers.
It also demanded financial and livelihood assistance for repatriated victims.
“President Marcos should take this issue seriously as many OFWs are being abused in scam hubs in Cambodia and across Southeast Asia,” Pingkian demanded.
Migrante International said the government must go after traffickers and ensure more local jobs to lessen the number of Filipinos seeking work abroad.
The group said it is one of the issues they will present at the People’s SONA (State of the Nation Address) protests on July 28. # (Raymund B.Villanueva)
