Some embassy personnel were involved in re-trafficking of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) staying at the Philippine Embassy shelter in Damascus, the Philippines’ new envoy in the country bared.
“There were some of them who were part of allegations of human trafficking here,” Chargé d’ affaires Vida Soraya Verzosa told Inquirer.
The country’s top diplomat said that was the reason why some embassy personnel were recalled back to the Philippines.
Versoza recommended conducting a fact-finding investigation first on the allegations.
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“However, the department (Department of Foreign Affairs) decided that due to the urgency of the situation, the recall, is a more judicious solution to this issue,” she said.
Versoza furthered they were able to get documents filed before the Syrian prosecutor’s office over issues involving some of the organic personnel of the post as well as some of the local hires, who are allegedly involved.
The Philippines’ top diplomat in Syria said OFWs sheltered in the embassy were re-trafficked or returned to their employers in exchange of money.
“For example, the Syrian local hire, they were saying—when I had meetings with the ministry—that some of the embassy personnel were working with the illegal recruiters. That they were actually inducing the girls to leave their employers [and] go to the embassy shelter,” she explained.
She said upon signing a waiver the OFWs will be returned to their employers or different employer in exchange for money.
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“The marching order for me was to really prioritize the Assistance to Nationals (ATN) cases, to really make it my number one objective to bring home all the girls in the Philippine embassy shelter and to really make certain recommendations regarding the Anti-Human Trafficking action plan that we designed for the Damascus Philippine embassy,” she added.
Meanwhile, she denied allegations of maltreatment in the embassy shelter saying that all Filipinos staying there told her that was not true.
Versoza clarified that OFWs were referring to the maltreatment they experienced from the employers and on the hands of the recruitment agencies.
She added that she called for a meeting with the housemother of the shelter along with the former ATN team to investigate the allegations of maltreatment.
According to Versoza, there are 21 Filipino workers currently staying in the embassy shelter including a dependent child who is the son of one of the wards. (RA)
