Twenty-four Filipinos who were trafficked as victims to work in online scam businesses in Cambodia have returned to their country.
According to Bureau of Immigration (BI) reports, the 24 Filipinos arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 on Saturday, August 23, via a flight out of Phnom Penh. Their rescue was made possible by the Philippine Embassy’s assistance in Cambodia.
Both the NAIA-based Task Force Against Trafficking and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) extended assistance on the victims’ arrival.
Authorities stated that the victims were recruited online by promises of a legitimate job with a salary of $1,500 as customer service representatives. Instead, they’ve been forced to work as “love scammers” targeting European men on the internet and are now earning only $300 each month.
The victims would often suffer punishment for failing to meet quotas, from forced squatting to being verbally abused to being physically assaulted. Some were sold to other companies while working in Cambodia.
The BI noted that the visitors first assumed they were tourists leaving the Philippines initially. A common ploy among syndicates trafficking people.
Another 10 Filipinos who experienced the same exploitation in the respective scam operations in Cambodia were also repatriated last week. Aileen Lor
