MANILA — Migrant rights groups and families of the trafficked victims of an online scam hub in Cambodia demanded justice from the Philippine government.

In a press conference on Monday, April 21, migrants group Migrante International, said that 10 Filipinos were rescued and repatriated after being lured to do online scam work in a compound in Oddar Meanchey, northern Cambodia. 

According to a relative of the victims, the latter were offered jobs as customer service representatives. They were then brought by the traffickers, one of them being a Filipino, to Cambodia through Hong Kong. 

But when they arrived at the Cambodia site, they were made to sit in front of the computers and forced to write 100 copies of scripts meant to deceive fellow Filipinos in the US. They were then threatened with a video showing people being physically harmed for not following the employer’s orders.

Lack of compassion

Though the Philippine Embassy in Cambodia was able to assist in rescuing the victims, some of the traffickers had already managed to confiscate the victims’ belongings while others already suffered through physical abuse after the perpetrators found out that they had contacted the embassy for help.

They were eventually brought to the police. But instead of getting assistance, they were instead detained in a cramped jail without proper access to food, water, or sanitation after Cambodian police raided the compound. 

Relatives of the victims were dismayed with the response, sharing how the Philippine embassy officials did not even visit the victims to assess their conditions, even after receiving reports of torture.

They said that victims resorted to rationing as there were days where they went without food at the detention center due to small quantities of food provided by the Philippine embassy.

“The victims are not at fault, and they should not be blamed. If the government’s response to the victims is slow and insufficient, how can they ever hold accountable those who are deceiving our fellow Filipinos?” said the relatives of the victims as they demanded justice for their loved ones and for the Philippine government to prosecute the human traffickers while upholding the rights and dignity of all the victims.

Meanwhile, Makabayan President and former Rep. Liza Maza stressed the need for the Philippine government to uphold and enforce laws protecting OFWs.

“It is high time that we strengthen accountability provisions in our laws, especially for government officials who fail to do their duty,” Maza said in a statement. She was also the principal author of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.  

She said that Makabayan continues to prioritize the protection and rights of OFWs and is calling for urgent justice for the victims of human trafficking.

“We demand accountability, proper assistance for the victims, and decent jobs in the Philippines so that no Filipino is ever forced to work and suffer abuse abroad,” Maza said. 

Worsening labor conditions

For his part, Bayan Muna second nominee and former Rep. Carlos Zarate lamented how OFWs are being blamed when they fall victims to human trafficking. “Why is it that most of the time, when our fellow OFWs become victims abroad, they themselves are also the ones being blamed? Shouldn’t it be the government’s responsibility to ensure their safety and rights?” 

“They wouldn’t even leave the country if the government could provide them with a good life or decent jobs here,” he said. 

Josie Pingkihan, deputy secretary-general of Migrante International, said that the government’s response to protect the victims was a failure and described it as “same-old sluggish and passive.” 

“They were not rescued promptly by the Philippine embassy. Instead of being rescued and placed in a safe shelter, the victims were even put in danger — they ended up being detained like criminals,” she said.

Migrante criticized the Marcos Jr administration for failing to address the worsening labor trafficking schemes, as well as for failing to prioritize the local job creation and implementing a living wage that will give Filipinos to not fall as ‘desperate preys to traffickers.

Read: Overseas Filipino workers bat for ‘sound family living wage’ in the Philippines 

“Marcos Jr. is the number one trafficker who must be held accountable because he is turning a deaf ear to the calls for regular jobs and livable wages. This is the main reason why the number of victims continues to rise,” Pingkihan said.

She said that ever since Marcos Jr. took office in 2022, the number of victims of labor trafficking schemes increased in Southeast Asia and in other countries. Despite this, she said the Marcos Jr. administration has not taken any significant measures. “The problem of trafficking will not be solved unless the demands for jobs, fair wages, lower prices of goods, and improved public services are addressed.” (With reports from Anne Marxze Umil) DAA