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THE Blas
F. Ople Policy Center, a nongovernment organization
concerned with migrant workers’ rights and welfare,
warned the public on Monday against the continued
trafficking of women workers to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (Dmia)
in Clark Field, Pampanga.
“Legitimate recruitment agencies do not go door-to-door
in search for job applicants. Please beware of friends,
relatives and complete strangers offering you quick
deployment for a job abroad without a genuine job
contract, a specific employer and a government license
to recruit,” the center stressed.
Seven
victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment in
Kuala Lumpur claimed to have exited the country through
the Dmia with the help of unscrupulous Bureau of
Immigration agents, the center in a statement said.
A recent
crackdown on escort services at the Ninoy Aquino
International Airport may have forced human traffickers
to use Dmia, which offers budget flights to Kuala
Lumpur.
Susan
Ople, president of the BFO Center, met the seven victims
during a recent visit to Kuala Lumpur, and each had a
sad story to tell about how illegal recruiters working
for a foreigner, named “Alfred Lim,” facilitated their
trip to Malaysia. The seven Filipino women are now
staying at the Filipino Workers’ Resource Center in
Kuala Lumpur, an extension office of the Philippine
labor attaché’s office.
“The
syndicate offers commissions to fake recruiters who prey
on potential female migrant workers, including those who
failed medical examinations.
The
scouts offer promising jobs in Kuala Lumpur, as domestic
help under a fly now, pay later scheme. This scheme
leads to slavery, because the recruiters force the
workers to keep on working for months without pay,
citing the need for them to pay off predeparture debts,”
Ople explained.
Two of
the seven women were forced to work as prostitutes,
though they were promised employment as domestic help.
Four of
the women told their recruiters that they were unfit to
work because of hepatitis B, but the recruiters assured
them that their ailment will not be an obstacle to
employment in Malaysia.
The BFO
Center called on the Bureau of Immigration to crack down
on its unscrupulous employees assigned to the Dmia, who
knowingly facilitated the departure of the victims.
“According to one of the victims, they were told to line
up as a group before a specific immigration counter
wearing white T-shirts and to use masking tape to mark
their passports with the letter “A” for easy
identification. They were able to leave the country even
if their non-machine-readable passports were obviously
tampered with,” Ople said.
The Blas
F. Ople Policy Center encouraged the human-trafficking
victims to file cases against their recruiters and to
cooperate with government agencies in their
investigations. “We will help them do this once they
arrive,” Ople vowed.
The
seven women are now awaiting repatriation through the
help of the Philippine Embassy, the Office of the Labor
Attaché and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
A
memorandum of agreement between the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration and the Blas F. Ople Policy
Center has led to a joint advocacy to fight illegal
recruitment and human trafficking of Filipino workers. |
