Vietnamese nationals rescued from Philippine human trafficking ring return home
VOV.VN - Sixty out of 437 Vietnamese nationals rescued by the Philippine authorities from a suspected human trafficking ring returned to Ho Chi Minh City-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport on May 30 morning.
They are among more than 1,000 workers, mostly Asian nationals, who were rescued by authorities at Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga province in early May.
The workers wanted to have decent jobs and send money back to their families, but did not know that they would be preyed upon by human traffickers.
They were forced into working at least 18 hours a day in a “fraudulent cyber-enabled industry” that used fake investments and cryptocurrencies as bait, according to the police.
The police raided the six five-story buildings of Colorful and Leap Group, a company operating from Clark Sun Valley Hub, and rescued 1,090 individuals, including those from Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Nepal, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Taiwan (China) and Hong Kong, along with 171 Filipinos.
The police detained 12 “maintainers” of the company, comprising seven Chinese nationals, four Indonesians and one Malaysian, for questioning.
Shortly after being notified, the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines visited the Vietnamese nationals, collected their information, and gave medication to some with health problems.
On May 25, the Citizens Protection Division under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam held a meeting to review the situation and seek solutions to bring the citizens home as soon as possible.
The first group of 60 forced labourers were repatriated.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs directed the Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines to continue discussing with the Philippine side to soon bring the remaining citizens back to Vietnam safely.
