PH, Cambodia strengthen cooperation vs. human trafficking

MANILA, May 20 ------ The Philippines and Cambodia have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their cooperation to combat human trafficking, Malacañang said. This, after the two nations recently concluded the high-level discussion on exchanging best practices and enhancing regional collaboration to address the issues on human trafficking and emerging crimes such as trafficking for forced criminality in scam hubs. 

Presidential Communications Office and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the Regional Dialogue and Knowledge Exchange between the Philippines and Cambodia was organized by the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking (IACAT) chaired by the Department of Justice, in partnership with the Cambodian National Committee for Counter Trafficking. Castro said the initiative was in response to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to strengthen regional cooperation to protect victims of human trafficking, combat syndicates, and secure the country’s borders. “Target ng dalawang bansa na palakasin ang ating ugnayan sa pagbabahagi ng mga best practices at pagtugon sa mga bagong anyo ng trafficking, gaya ng forced labor sa mga scam hubs,” she said. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs on April 16 cautioned Filipinos against dubious overseas jobs, after it repatriated 26 Filipinos from Oddar Meanchey Province in Cambodia. On April 27, the Bureau of Immigration also issued a warning against human trafficking syndicates in Cambodia following the revelation of four Filipino repatriated from Phnom Penh that they were “sold” by online scam operators. 

Initial investigations found that the victims, who were recruited via Facebook job postings offering supposed employment as encoders or customer service representatives, were forced to work in online scam hubs and were sold to other scam groups when they failed to meet quotas. The victims were only able to escape after being sold to a different scam group. Authorities are investigating the illegal recruiters who facilitated the victims' departure and are working to identify the full scope of the trafficking network.  

Source: pna.gov.ph