The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said it is coordinating with the Philippine Embassy in Myanmar to rescue 78 Filipinos allegedly recruited to work in scam hubs.
During a press conference, DMW Undersecretary Felicitas Bay said the government is awaiting clearance from Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs before it can proceed with the repatriation of the detained Filipinos.
“As soon as we have secured the clearance and we are allowed, of course, the proper protocol and the proper documentation, then our team in Bangkok will visit our kababayans who are held in detention in Myanmar,” Bay said.
The DMW reported that 839 Filipinos were repatriated from Myanmar in 2025, with 690 of them receiving welfare assistance.
The agency has also been monitoring online advertisements offering package tours and job opportunities supposedly based in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, following requests for government assistance from more than 200 Filipinos in Myanmar seeking repatriation.
Authorities have taken down at least 17,000 social media posts linked to illegal recruitment and fraudulent job offers.
In recent years, parts of Southeast Asia, including border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia, as well as Laos, have emerged as centers of online fraud operations generating billions of dollars annually. Traffickers have increasingly targeted Filipinos and other foreign nationals for forced labor in these scam hubs.
