PHL Embassy warns: Brokers of Korea-bound marriages may be traffickers

A warning to Filipinas being offered marriage in Korea: the offer may be part of a human trafficking ploy.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez issued this warning on his Twitter account Saturday.

Hernandez said the traffickers target Filipinas going to South Korea as wives and entertainers.

The Philippine embassy in South Kore issued a similar warning on illegal marriage brokering by Korean agents in the Philippines and the trafficking of Filipina entertainers into Korea following the Second Multicultural and Law Forum held in Ansan City.

Korean prosecutors and immigration officials, representatives of embassies and foreign community groups were invited to discuss challenges of multiculturalism in the South Korean society.

“Most of the serious cases were already problematic from the start as the Filipino women either went through illegal marriage brokers or were trafficked to Korea as entertainers,"  Embassy Second Secretary and Consul Aian Caringal said.

"As soon as the women reach Korea, their passports and other personal documents are taken from them by the employers, husbands or in-laws. Some are even not allowed to use or own a cellular phone,” he added.

Marriage brokering is illegal in the Philippines under the Anti Mail-Order-Bride Law.

The embassy warned victims of trafficking they may find themselves working as prostitutes for less than half the salary promised to them, or even killed. — LBG, GMA News

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