DFA lists helplines for Pinoy trafficking victims
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has urged Filipino communities abroad to support government efforts to stop Filipinos from being recruited by groups abroad that force them into criminal or scamming activities.
It issued the appeal as it expressed alarm over continued reports of alleged Filipino Human Trafficking Victims trapped inside scam centers in Southeast Asia.
The DFA, however, did not say how many reports it has received so far, saying only that it is working with its “Foreign Service Posts, especially in Mainland Southeast Asia (Thailand, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia), to persistently devote efforts and resources in extending all possible assistance to our Filipinos in distress, while requesting the authorities of the host countries for their invaluable cooperation.”
Relatives of Filipinos believed to be trapped in scam hubs in the vicinity of the Myanmar-Thai border can contact the Philippine Embassies in Yangon and Bangkok through hotline +95 998 521 0991.
They may also contact the Philippine Embassy in Myanmar through Facebook Messenger and the Bangkok Philippine Embassy’s Assistance-to-Nationals hotline +66 81989 7116.
