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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 3 Filipino trafficking victims repatriated from Myanmar -- BI

3 Filipino trafficking victims repatriated from Myanmar -- BI

Published Oct 28, 2023 05:33 am

Three Filipinos, who were recruited as call center agents in Thailand but were finally transported to Myanmar and forced to work as scammers in cryptocurrency trading, have been repatriated to the Philippines.

Just like previous victims of human trafficking, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the three male Filipinos, who were not identified, were fetched by a van and transported to Mae Sot in Thailand where they crossed the boarder to Myanmar.

In Myanmar, Tansingco said the three Filipinos were forced to work as "love scammers' targetting Americans and Europeans to invest in pseudo cryptocurrency accounts.

What made their situation worse, he said, was that they were required a weekly quota. If they fail to meet the quota, they were subjected to physical punishments such as push-ups and jump squats, he said.

Also, Tansingco said the three victims were forced to work 16 to18 hours a day and allowed to use their mobile phones only when they were being monitored by their employers.

They were allowed to return to the Philippines after they paid P90,000 each to their employers, he also said.

Thus, Tansingco warned Filipinos against falling victims to human trafficking, a concern of other Asian countries.

Related Tags

Norman Tansingco human traffciking crypto investment scam cryptocurrency bureau of immigration Crypto cryptocurrency scam Bureau of Immigration human traffcking
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