The Department of Foreign Affairs said it is still working on the repatriation of Filipinos who were victimized by illegal recruiters and schemes in Southeast Asian countries.
“These are Filipino workers who were promised jobs as data encoders but when they got there, they ended up working for POGOs, or have been converted to illegal scammers,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said in a media briefing.
“The others would end up getting physically abused if they cannot get a client so we have a few of those, more than a hundred, across different countries in Southeast Asia,” he added.
De Vega said that the government is arranging the repatriation of over 100 Filipinos who were forced to work as scammers in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
But the DFA official told Philstar that some victims do not want to come back home.
“Some are not subjected to abuse if they meet their quota. Some out of fear,” De Vega said.
“We are doing what we can, including reaching out to foreign governments and the International Organization for Migration for assistance,” he added.
