8 Filipino trafficking victims rescued from Myanmar

EIGHT FILIPINOS have returned to the Philippines after being rescued from a trafficking scheme in Myanmar, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday.

Among the eight, four males were recruited online from Dubai to supposedly work as customer support representatives in Thailand. Instead, they were brought to Myanmar and forced to scam individuals into investing in cryptocurrency.

The other four, all females, were detained for allegedly entering Myanmar illegally from Thailand.

“The DFA wishes to advise all that the Myanmar-Thai Friendship Bridge, the border crossing closed for nearly three years, only reopened last January 2023 for the citizens of the two countries,” it said in a statement.

“Therefore, crossing by any other means, e.g. across the river, is illegal,” it added. “Moreover, the legal entry points for foreigners, including Filipinos, are through Yangon, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw airports.”

The DFA warned Filipinos both in the Philippines and abroad to be cautious of jobs offered in social media sites.

“It is vital to pass through the legal deployment processes in the Philippines and arrive in their countries of destination not as tourists but with actual working visas,” it said. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan