Human traffickers now targeting OFWs with expiring visas

INQUIRER file photo / ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday warned that human traffickers are now targeting overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with expiring visas.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco bared this in a statement following the repatriation of two more OFW victims who arrived in the country on March 4.

“We have observed that these human traffickers are preying on OFWs with expiring visas, particularly in the middle east, and are enticing them to work as call center agents in Asian countries,” said Tansingco.

“However[,] we are now seeing that this is a human trafficking scheme, and the victims end up being forced to scam other people and are being subjected to physical torture,” he added.

According to Tansingco, investigations showed that the two newly-repatriated OFWs were former OFWs from the United Arab Emirates before they were recruited in Myanmar.

The victims claimed they were added to an online group chat where a Chinese national interviewed and hired them.

The said job offered them a salary of P48,000, as customer service representatives in Thailand.

However, upon arrival in Thailand, the victims were fetched by a foreign escort in a four-wheeled vehicle before they traveled for 16 hours, only to stop on a riverside to ride a boat.

From there, the victims noticed they were already in Myanmar, not Thailand.

They then immediately requested assistance from the authorities through a former victim who had already been repatriated.

Due to this, Tansingco has once again reminded the public to apply through the Department of Migrant Workers to work abroad legally. — Mae Anne F. Bilolo, trainee

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JPV/abc