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THE Blas F. Ople (BFO) Policy Center, a nongovernment organization
concerned with migrant workers’ rights and welfare, warned the
public against the continued trafficking of women workers to Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, through the Diosdado Macapagal International
Airport (DMIA) at Clark, Pampanga.
Seven victims of human trafficking and illegal
recruitment in Kuala Lumpur claimed to have left the country through
the Clark airport with the help of unscrupulous Bureau of
Immigration and Deportation (BID) agents. A recent crack down on
escort services in NAIA may have led the syndicate to focus on DMIA
that offers budget flights to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Susan Ople, president of the BFO Policy Center,
met the seven victims during a recent visit to Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia and each had sad stories to relate about how illegal
recruiters working for a foreigner named “Alfred Lim”
facilitated their trip to the said country. The seven Filipino women
are now staying at the Filipino Workers’ Resource Center in Kuala
Lumpur, an extension office of the Philippine Office of the Labor
Attaché.
Two of the seven women were forced to work as
prostitutes though they were promised employment as domestic
helpers. Four of the women told their recruiters that they were
unfit to work because of Hepatitis-B but the recruiters assured them
that their ailments will not be an obstacle to employment in
Malaysia.
The BFO Policy Center called on the BID to
crackdown on unscrupulous employees assigned to the DMIA at Clark,
Pampanga, that knowingly facilitated the departure of the victims.
The BFO Policy Center said it encouraged the
human trafficking victims to file cases against their recruiters and
to cooperate with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
(POEA), Philippine National Police and BID Chief Marcelo Libanan in
their investigations.
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 POEA and
the BFO Policy Center has led to a joint advocacy to fight illegal
recruitment and human trafficking of Filipino workers.
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