BI raises alarm over trafficking victims using southern backdoor

This photo shows some of the 17 individuals without travel documents being interviewed and profiled at the PNP Maritime police station in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi. They were rescued from MV Evergreen docked at the port of Bongao that was bound for Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. --PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NAVAL FORCES WESTERN MINDANAO

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) raised alarm on Tuesday over a growing number of victims of trafficking using “backdoor” exits to work for Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo)-like firms in neighboring Southeast Asian nations.

Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said in a statement that two female and one male trafficking victims were repatriated to the Philippines on March 16 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia on a Philippine Airlines flight after being lured into working as “customer service representatives” with a promise of a high salary.

The BI said that the three sought assistance from the Philippine Embassy after allegedly being physically assaulted and tortured by their employers for more than two months.

When they arrived in Manila, the victims were surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation, which has initiated an investigation into their recruiters.

“Initial data revealed that all three victims had no official record of departure from the Philippines. They disclosed that they exited the country illegally by taking a small boat from Jolo, Sulu to Sabah, Malaysia,” the BI said.

Once in Sabah, their passports were allegedly stamped with a fake Philippine departure mark before they traveled by land to Kuala Lumpur, then flew to Bangkok, Thailand, and finally reached Cambodia.

Recruited via Facebook

A victim mentioned that she was hired on Facebook by a fellow Filipino friend who offered a job as a customer service representative in Cambodia, promising a monthly salary of $1,000.

Upon arrival, however, she said she underwent 15 days of training to work as a “love scammer” and received only $300.

Due to underpayment, she and her coworkers attempted to transfer to a different employer, but their Chinese employer allegedly attacked them, confiscated their mobile phones, and left them in an unfamiliar location.

Eventually, they were able to contact the Philippine Embassy, which enabled them to return home.

The BI’s Documents Laboratory later confirmed that the victims’ passports had fake BI departure stamps.