cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/14574
For Migrante International, the human trafficking cases surfacing in recent months—particularly those involving “scam hubs” in Southeast Asia—are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a deeper crisis forcing Filipinos to leave the country in search of work.
MANILA — With unemployment rising and the cost of living becoming unbearable in 2025, more Filipinos continue to be pushed out of the country in search of jobs that the Philippine government has long failed to provide.
A 2024 study by the Asian Development Bank found overseas deployment has doubled to more than 2.3 million, the highest on record since 2019.
On average, 6,301 Filipinos leave daily—a stark reminder that labor migration has become a survival strategy, not a choice. For many Filipinos, migration is a way to improve their economic situation. However, thousands also fall prey to human trafficking rings operating scam hubs across Southeast Asia
Lured by promises of high-paying and legitimate work, OFWs often find themselves trapped in guarded compounds, forced into participating in online fraud, and subjected to prison-like conditions.
How the scam works
Mary (not her real name) thought she had found a promising opportunity when she stumbled on a Facebook post offering a customer service representative position abroad with a salary of $700 to $1,000 a month—with additional perks like free accommodation and transportation.
“It was tempting and promising so I decided to apply,” she told Bulatlat in an interview. “But what happened in reality was the exact opposite.”
Her recruiter, a woman named Angelica Cochuela, gave little information apart from the high salary and supposed perks. Within days of her application, Mary’s plane ticket was booked.
“It all happened too fast,” she said.
Before her flight, Mary was told to stay in a hotel, where she met two other Filipinos who were recruited the same way.
While at the hotel, they were told that their lodging, visas, and airfare to Hong Kong were all paid for.
“As an ex-OFW, I was used to flying out for work. But this experience was different,” Mary said.
At the Philippine immigration counter, she noticed something odd. No documents were asked of them—not even a certificate of employment. The officer merely glanced at their passports and allowed them through.
“Afterwards, we realized that the immigration officer was probably also in on it,” Mary said.
When they reached Hong Kong, another person met with them and explained that they would be booking another flight for them to Cambodia, but they had to stop-over in Hong Kong first.
That was when doubts began creeping in. She briefly considered escaping to Dubai instead, but with no money, she felt trapped.
The moment they arrived in Cambodia, their passports were confiscated.
“Normally, if employers take your passport, they give you something in return—an ID, a working visa. But there, we had nothing,” Mary said.
From the airport, they were brought to an apartment complex in Phnom Penh.
“They said it was the ‘office,’ but there was nothing inside. No computers. Nothing. They only told us we’d stay there for training first.”
There they were asked to practice “scripts,” though they were not told what these were for.
For the whole duration of their supposed training, Mary and the others were allowed to move around freely. They could contact their families, and their supervisors would even provide their food, allowances, and basic necessities. Because the area was close to consular offices, they did not suspect anything sinister.
“They didn’t make it obvious that they were part of a crime syndicate,” she also said.
But the illusion ended in late February when they were told they would be transferred somewhere else.
“We traveled in a mini-bus for eight or nine hours,” Mary recounted. “They brought us to a casino complex near the Thailand border. It had a huge gate and many guards. Back then, we didn’t know that it was the start of our hardship.”
Inside, conditions were prison-like. They were locked in a room filled with cellphones and tablets and were instructed to talk to “clients.”
They soon realized the truth: They were being forced to participate in scam operations—tricking victims into believing they conducted fraudulent transactions in order to scam money out of them.
Filipino trafficking victims of Cambodia online scam hub. (Photo from Migrante International Facebook page)
They were also made to work 12 to 14 hours a day, instead of the promised eight-hour workday.
“We start at 8 p.m. and end at 10 or 11 a.m.,” she said. “And even then, we can’t sleep right away. Food arrives at noon, so we wait. Sometimes we don’t sleep at all if we’re being punished.”
According to Mary, failing to meet the 200-client quota meant punishment— sometimes they were forced to take calls while standing all day, or even while cleaning the compound.
They were also forced to write pages of scripts by hand. Failure to finish on time meant they would have to write double the number the next day.
Mary said that she tried to negotiate for her freedom once, but was told that she had to pay over P1 million, or at least $16,000, if she wanted to go home.
On top of that, she also had to pay for the ‘utilities’ of the training center in Phnom Penh, where she stayed for at least two months, amounting to approximately $2000.
“They said it was stated in the contract that we signed, that we have to pay the fine if we want to go home before the contract ends– but they only made us sign the contract when we were already in Cambodia, we had no choice,” Mary explained.
The severe working conditions, constant punishment, and prison-like treatment pushed Mary and several Filipinos to take a risk and ask for help.
She said they sent their phones’ location information to family and friends in the Philippines when they could, but eventually their phones indicated that they were in an ‘unknown’ area.
One afternoon in March, their supervisor suddenly ordered them to pack up and said that authorities were checking the complex.
“We realized one of our reports finally reached someone.”
Officials from the Cambodian authorities arrived, demanding the identities of the trafficked Filipinos. Not wanting to escalate the issue, their supervisor eventually agreed to release them.
But instead of being sent home, they were brought to a detention center in Siem Reap.
“It was cramped with trafficking victims—Indonesians, Indians, Chinese,” Mary explained. “We were placed near the comfort room, and they gave us nothing.”
“We were told we had to pay for everything— we didn’t have any food, not even a proper bed… We realized we had to contact the embassy if we wanted to eat. But even after contacting the embassy, we had to ration the food that they gave us. We even had to cut up water bottles and use them as cups because of how little was provided,” Mary also said.
“We had to endure that for almost a month before we were finally allowed to come back home,” she said.
Mary pointed out how officials of the Philippine Embassy only visited them once during their detention.
“They just showed up on the day we were supposed to go home,” she said. “They told us our case would make other Filipinos more aware of these scams.”
Arriving home, Mary said they were promised multiple forms assistance—livelihood, medical, psychological—but none ever came.
“When we returned, they promised us a lot. But until now, we haven’t received anything,” Mary said.
When asked if she had any message for the Philippine government, Mary only said that she wishes their case would get a lot more attention.
“We hope that other branches of our government, the senators, or the president, will give us attention. So they can help the victims of human trafficking, because we feel that we have been ignored,” she continued.
“I hope the victims of human trafficking, even though we are undocumented, will also be given attention. I hope we can be helped to find work again after we return to the Philippines because we still have a family that depends on us.”
Local job creation and a living-family wage, the real solution to human trafficking
For Migrante International, the human trafficking cases surfacing in recent months—particularly those involving “scam hubs” in Southeast Asia—are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a deeper crisis forcing Filipinos to leave the country in search of work.
Migrante Deputy Secretary-General Josie Pingkihan said their organization has been assisting trafficking victims since March, many of them lured into scam operations abroad.
“We have handled cases from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Most of those we assisted came from scam hubs in Cambodia,” Pingkihan told Bulatlat.
“Just last month, we helped with the case of at least 200 Filipinos who escaped from a scam hub in Myanmar. From the 200 deported, 14 were able to come home. We are currently helping them get financial aid from DMW,” she continued.
Most victims, according to Migrante’s documentation, were recruited online—through simple Facebook posts offering customer service work.
After initial exchanges, recruiters would move conversations to Telegram, where they would lay out the supposed terms and benefits of the job.
“They are usually told they will be online customer service representatives,” Pingkihan explained. “It was framed as a legitimate job with the promise of a high salary.”
Up until early 2024, many of these victims were able to leave the country without difficulty through Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
“What is notable in the early cases,” Pingkihan said, “is that all victims were routed through a single immigration officer. If that officer wasn’t on duty, they were told to return the next day.”
Since 2022, DMW has reported that 1,910 Filipino human trafficking victims have been repatriated from the Philippines’ neighboring countries, primarily deceived through online job scams and exploited in scam hubs. Migrante, meanwhile, has assisted 34 cases since April, with seven rescue requests still pending.
The DMW has publicly claimed that they have intensified their anti-trafficking efforts. But for Migrante, these declarations do not match the situation on the ground.
“If they were truly intensifying their crackdown, we should be seeing a decrease in victims,” Pingkihan said. “But we are not seeing that. The numbers continue to rise as Filipinos fly out to these scam centers.”
During a dialogue on fast-tracking repatriation, Migrante urged the government to take more decisive action. But Pingkihan said the DMW told them they could not lodge diplomatic complaints.
“We also questioned why victims are being brought to detention centers instead of shelters,” she added. “But the DMW told us they cannot intervene because it might affect diplomatic relations.”
Under the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, member-states are expected to cooperate in protecting victims of transnational crimes. But the reality experienced by many Filipinos abroad, Pingkihan said, contradicts this commitment.
“Our citizens continue to languish in detention centers. Why do they have to be detained in the first place?” she asked.
In one case, she recalled seeing 18 Filipino victims transported from a detention center in handcuffs. The restraints were only removed once they reached the airport.
“They are treated as criminals,” she said. “When in fact, they are victims.”
Migrante also believes that, contrary to DMW’s claims, simply targeting illegal recruiters will not resolve the crisis.
“The real solution lies in creating secure, stable jobs in the Philippines—jobs that pay enough to raise a family,” Pingkihan said.
“We should accept that the P649 minimum wage in Metro Manila is not enough to feed a family,” Pingkihan continues.
Even with stricter requirements of recruitment imposed by the government agency, she stressed that authorities have little control over recruiters once workers leave the country.
For Migrante, the root cause is clear: widespread unemployment and poverty at home make Filipinos vulnerable to trafficking abroad.“If we had well-paying, secure jobs here in the Philippines, people wouldn’t need to take these risks,” Pingkihan said. “Illegal recruiters thrive because our people are desperate. The government must address that.” (JDS, RVO)
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