DFA: 16 trafficked Filipinos in Myanmar want to be rescued By GISELLE OMBAY, GMA Integrated News

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday that at least 16 Filipinos who are allegedly human trafficking victims in Myanmar are seeking help from the Philippine government for them to be rescued in conflict areas where they are working. In a radio interview, DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Eduardo de Vega explained that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are legally working in Myanmar are not stationed in areas being controlled by the rebels, however, some OFWs are still working in such as they are undocumented and compelled to work as scammers. “Sino ang mga Pilipino na nandoon so conflicted areas? Hindi ito legal na mga workers. Ito ‘yung nabalitaan niyo mga six months na na mga trafficking victims na pinapangakuan ng magandang trabaho sa Thailand tapos ang bagsak pala nila kung saan saan,” De Vega said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview. (Who are the Filipinos in the conflicted areas? These are not legal workers. They are those you have heard about six months ago, the trafficking victims who were promised good jobs in Thailand, but they were brought elsewhere.) De Vega said the DFA has already rescued 143 Filipino trafficking victims in Myanmar and have been repatriated to the Philippines. He added that around 30 to 40 more undocumented OFWs are still in Myanmar, but only 16 clearly expressed desire to go home due to various reasons. “Meron pang mga 16 na nakikipag-contact sa amin ang pamilya na hindi pa natin nare-rescue dahil mahirap eh dahil hawak nga ng rebel ang mga lugar do’n. Although nung nandoon ako, nangako naman ang police authorities na gagawan nila ng paraan,” he said. (There are about 16 OFWs whose families are contacting us. However, we haven't been able to rescue them yet because it's difficult. The rebels are still in control of these areas. Although when I was there, the police authorities promised that they would find a way to help them.) The DFA recently downgraded the alert level status in Myanmar from Alert Level 4 to Alert Level 2, allowing OFWs with working visas to return to Myanmar. However, under this “restriction phase,” there will still be no new deployment of OFWs to Myanmar and only those with existing employment contracts are allowed to return to the concerned country. There are more than 400 OFWs in Myanmar, according to the DFA. In May 2021, the DFA raised Alert Level 4 in Myanmar in light of the conflict due to the coup staged by a military group. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News

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