MANILA — On October 23, sixty-six Filipinos were among the more than 1,000 victims of human trafficking who managed to escape from the KK Park scam hubs in Myawaddy, Myanmar and crossed into Thailand. 

This is only one of the recent incidents of human trafficking cases involving Filipinos across Southeast Asia. According to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), at least 1,454 Filipinos have been rescued from scam hubs in Southeast Asia over the past two years.

The United Nations had already said that scam centers like Myanmar’s KK Park are a ‘human rights crisis’ where victims are primarily lured into a deceptive high-paying online job, but once they arrive they are detained in compounds or ‘scam hubs.’ 

These scam hubs are essentially forced labor camps where victims, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, are coerced into working long hours under brutal conditions, including physical abuse and debt bondage.

A news release from the department has stated that they are currently coordinating with the Labor Attaché of the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Bangkok to facilitate the safe crossing of the remaining 220 trafficked Filipinos in Myanmar still seeking repatriation to Thailand.

“The DMW has already provided financial assistance to 66 rescued victims through our Migrant Workers Office in Bangkok, and is currently attending to the remaining individuals out of the total 220 who requested assistance—including their accommodation, food, and other basic needs,” said DMW Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac in a press conference.

The department also added that it has been intensifying its campaign against illegal recruitment and human trafficking after the recent events.

“The remedy essentially is the law enforcement, if you want to get to the root cause,” added Cacdac. 

“The solution on our side is the crackdown on illegal recruiters and human traffickers who promise illegal employment in these areas,” he continued.

Address the ‘real’ root cause

However, Filipino migrants group Migrante Thailand criticized the recent statement by the DMW regarding its intensified campaign against human trafficking. Terry Carlos, spokesperson of Migrante Thailand, said that the government’s effort will remain meaningless because it does not provide the “real solution.”

“The point is, as long as the Marcos Jr. administration refuses to confront the root cause of forced migration — poverty — no amount of intensified law enforcement will be effective,” said Carlos.

According to the group, an estimated 100 or more Filipino human trafficking victims (HTVs)  remain in the custody of various Myanmar militias. A recent crackdown by multiple militia groups on online scam operations in the country has resulted in the escape of many victims.

The group had previously urged the Marcos administration to take immediate and concrete action against the growing number of human trafficking involving Filipinos across the region. It has lamented on the current situation of the remaining trafficked Filipinos in Thailand who are yet to be repatriated back to the Philippines. 

“Instead of prioritizing urgent assistance for distressed Filipinos, the MWO seems more focused on collecting processing fees from migrant workers,” he continued.

Carlos also added that this is not an isolated case on the repatriation missions for victims of human trafficking linked to scam hub operations in the region. Previously, families of the victims of the scam hubs in Cambodia have also highlighted the government’s ‘lack of compassion.’

Read: Families of trafficked victims in Cambodian online scam hub demand justice

“Human trafficking to these scam hubs worsened following the devastating impact of the 2020 pandemic,” Carlos explained. “With massive unemployment and low wages, criminal syndicates exploited people’s desperation by offering deceptive overseas job advertisements promising high salaries.”

Carlos explained that the root cause of the crisis lies not in the crackdown of illegal recruiters but in the government’s failure to provide decent wages in the Philippines. 

IBON Foundation’s research stated that a worker supporting a family of five needs to earn at least P1,200 per day to live decently, but the minimum wage in Metro Manila remains to be about P620 per day, and even lower in other regions— where the majority of the victims come from.

“As we have said before, this crisis will persist as long as poverty, unemployment, lack of livelihood, and low wages remain — conditions that are only worsened by the government’s Labor Export Program,” Carlos concluded. (RTS)

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