DMW warns vs illegal online recruiters
THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Thursday issued a warning against an online illegal recruitment scheme perpetrated by a Chinese-run offshore gaming company operating along the border of Myanmar and Thailand.
“The Department of Migrant Workers has issued an advisory against online offers for temporary work in Myanmar for POGO-run establishments that are really forced labor and human trafficking hubs in disguise,” DWM Secretary Susan Ople said, adding the group was offering customer service relations or technical support jobs to Filipinos.
Ople said she interviewed 10 victims that were supposed to work in a Chinese call center in Myanmar near the border of Thailand.
A total of 12 people were rescued from their Chinese handlers through the coordinated efforts of the office of Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros, the DMW and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
“Our department wishes to thank Sen. Risa Hontiveros. It was actually a communication between one of the victims and the staff of Senator Risa that triggered a lot of things. She met one of the victims yesterday and I met around 10 of the human trafficking survivors,” Ople added.
The victims said they were recruited online via Facebook and promised a monthly salary of P40,000 for six months as data encoders, customer service relations and technical support staff.
Their recruiter said they would be working in Thailand but ended up in a “techno park” in a remote area in Myanmar, which took them eight hours to reach by road trip and hiking.
The victims said each of them was assigned a work cubicle where they search and cultivate relations with potential bitcoin investors using dating apps and other social media platforms.
They said they managed to understand instructions in Chinese by using Google Translate.
“These Chinese syndicates run sleek operations, and I will not be surprised if there are syndicates also operating in remote areas here in the Philippines,” Ople said.
Acting Philippine Overseas Employment Administration Administrator and DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia signed Advisory 54 on Aug. 2, 2022, suspending any further deployment of Filipino workers to Myanmar due to the ongoing armed conflict and rising incidents of illegal recruitment and human trafficking in the country.
The DMW’s Anti-Illegal Recruitment Branch is working with the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children Protection Center in documenting the testimonies of the victims for the filing of human trafficking and illegal recruitment cases against the perpetrators.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration provided the rescued victims overnight accommodation, a financial help of P10,000 and air transit for those returning to the provinces.