27 OFWs rescued in Cambodia ‘sold like slaves’ by employers

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday said 27 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were recently repatriated from Cambodia were allegedly “sold like slaves” by their foreign employers to work as online scammers for syndicates.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the 27 OFWs returned to the country last Friday, December 8. Records show they left the country between the last quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023.

Tansingco said 12 of the workers departed the country illegally through the southern backdoor, evading formal immigration procedures, while 14 departed as regular tourists, claiming they are traveling abroad for a holiday.

“They (12 workers) allegedly traveled for 11 hours from Zamboanga to Sabah, Malaysia before transferring to Cambodia,” Tansingco said, adding: “One of the repatriates was even a government employee, while the others had either a short-term travel, (were) traveling with friends, partner, or employer, or are gainfully employed.”

One worker left the country as a documented overseas worker, but was supposedly bound for the Republic of Palau, not Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

The 27 OFWs were recently rescued by Cambodian authorities and repatriated to Manila.

Tansingco said that upon interrogation by immigration officers, the workers said they were forced to work as love scammers targeting old men residing in the United Kingdom.

“Some of them experienced abuse and torture in the workplace and were later sold by their Chinese employers to another company. Imagine, being a professional here but ended up being sold like a slave abroad. These are the real stories that we have been hearing every day, yet people continue to say yes to this,” Tansingco said.

“We have warned about this syndicate as early as October last year. It has been more than a year and we are still seeing victims being duped in accepting their fake offers,” he added.