Over 200 Pinoys forced to work in Myanmar scam farms to be repatriated next week—DFA

A total of 206 Filipinos who were rescued from scam farms and rebel groups in Myanmar are scheduled to arrive in Manila starting Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday.

In an interview with Nimfa Ravelo and Isa Avendano on Super Radyo dzBB, DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vegade Vega said 30 Filipinos are scheduled to return on Monday followed by 176 on Tuesday. 

De Vega said the Filipinos are part of thousands of foreign workers in Myanmar who were forcibly employed in scam farms.

“Kasama ito sa iba-ibang lahi. Marami sila, libo-libo sila na nandoon. Napilitan magsara yung mga scam factories dahil (na cut) yung kanilang mga kuryente,” he said.

(They are a part of other foreigners. There are thousands of them in Myanmar. The scam factories were forced to close after their electricity was cut.)

Making matters worse, these workers were abducted by armed groups fighting the government.

“Kinidnap sila ng mga rebel groups kasi ang mga teritoryo nuon hindi hawak ng Myanmar military government, hawak ng mga armed groups so sila ngayon ang mga kumukupkop sa mga ito bago i-turn over sa Myanmar,” the DFA official pointed out.

(They were kidnapped by rebel groups since they were inside territory that is not controlled by the Myanmar government held by armed groups. Our countrymen are in their hands until they are turned over to the Myanmar authorities.)

De Vega said a DFA team will be with Myanmar authorities who will receive the Filipinos at a river crossing point near the Thai border. The repatriated Pinoys would then be taken to Bangkok where they would board flights back to the Philippines.

Upon their return, de Vega said the Filipinos would receive assistance in their reintegration by various government agencies, one of which is theInter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

“Kukunin ang salaysay nila para tignan kung paano mahihinto ang illegal recruitment,” he said.

(The IAAHT will get their statements in order for us to find out how to stop this kind of illegal recruitment.)

De Vega said there are at least 50 Filipinos who require assistance from Myanmar scam farms. He said the government is talking to Myanmar authorities and believes they will eventually be rescued.

Despite these developments, the DFA official said many Filipinos are still being enticed to find work in Myanmar where there is an ongoing civil war.

He said recruitment is being done online. Many Filipinos who were convinced to go actually came from overseas such as Dubai, who were told they would work as customer service representatives in Bangkok, Thailand.

Upon arrival, the Filipinos would be picked up from the airport and travel by land for eight hours to Myanmar.

According to de Vega, many would-be workers have been offloaded from flights en route to Thailand when it is observed that they are not tourists.

“Kung may pangakong trabaho sa Thailand, huwag puntahan kung hindi ito dadaan sa proseso. Kailangan ng work visa– daan ng proseso,” he said.

(If there is promised work in Thailand, do not go if it did not go through a proper process. You need a work visa issued through a valid process.)

“‘Yung iba, gusto pumunta kasi kumikita sila. ‘Yung iba, nagbabakasakali”, he said.

(Some want to go because they earn a good amount. Others want to try their luck.)

The DFA official said there are also Filipinos working in scam farms in Laos and Cambodia. It is also possible that the investors behind these establishments could transfer to Africa due to the recent closures so there could be Filipinos traveling to Nigeria.

He added the IACAT will try to determine how these Filipinos were scammed and whether some of those returning were the recruiters. —RF, GMA Integrated News