THREE Filipinos who fell prey to human traffickers were recently repatriated from China after spending more than a month in jail, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday.
Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section chief Ann Camille Mina said the three arrived last Aug. 24 aboard a China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou, China.
In a report to Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco, Mina said the three were illegally recruited to work as waitresses and household workers.
“They left as tourists, but were scammed after receiving false promises of receiving work visas in China,” Mina said in her report, adding the three, all in their 40s, were apprehended by Chinese immigration authorities for overstaying and were jailed for more than a month.
Officials from the Philippine Consulate in Guangzhou intervened and assisted them in returning to Manila.
“This is but one of the possibilities that our kababayans may face if they work illegally abroad. We urge aspiring overseas workers not to resort to illegal means to be able to work,” Tansingco said in a statement.
The three were provided assistance upon their arrival by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
Since January this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was able to rescue and repatriate 210 Filipino victims of traffickers who were made to work as cryptocurrency scammers in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos.
Of the 210, 90 were rescued in Myanmar, 52 in Cambodia, and 68 in Laos.
Last year, the DFA said around 150 to 160 Filipinos were also rescued in the region.
