DFA repatriates 7 Filipinos, but 75 others still in ‘Golden Triangle’

DFA logo and building facade. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Seven Filipinos who were arrested at a notorious “special economic zone” in Laos near its borders with Myanmar and Thailand were repatriated on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported in a statement.

The DFA said it was working with Laotian authorities on the repatriation of 75 more Filipinos (out of a total of 129 requests for assistance) who were arrested at the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ) in Laos’ Bokeo province along the Mekong River.

“The Philippine Embassy in Vientiane, is working closely with Lao authorities and has also sent a team to Bokeo province to facilitate the release and extraction of distressed OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) from the GTSEZ,” the DFA said.

“Two officials from [the] DFA-Office of the Undersecretary for Migration Affairs are now in Laos to assist as part of the DFA’s Rapid Response Team,” the DFA added.

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The DFA will shoulder their flight expenses from Bokeo to Vientiane and onward to the Philippines, including accommodation, food and basic needs.

“The team stands ready to assist Filipinos who may still be remaining in the Golden Triangle and will continue to work with Lao authorities to ensure their safety,” the DFA said.

The detained Filipinos were among the 771 people, mostly from Myanmar, China, India, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, who were arrested in an anticrime drive at the GTSEZ.

The Lao government created the economic zone in 2007 in cooperation with the Hong Kong-registered Kings Romans Group, that built a casino in Bokeo targeting gamblers from China, Myanmar and Thailand.

According to the US Treasury Department, the Kings Romans Group is owned by China-born Zhao Wei, whom the agency sanctioned for trafficking heroin, methamphetamine and other narcotics and funding private armies in Myanmar.

The casino has spurred the growth of a small city in Bokeo that has come to be known as a hub for criminal activities that rely mainly on foreign workers, including Filipinos.