176 more Filipino trafficking victims in Myanmar set for repatriation

In this photo taken on February 23, 2025 alleged scam center workers and victims stand together during a crackdown operation by the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) on illicit activity, at the border checkpoint with Thailand in Myanmar’s eastern Myawaddy township. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — One hundred seventy six more Filipino human trafficking victims in Myanmar will be repatriated on Tuesday night, said Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega.

In an interview, de Vega said a total of 30 Filipino human trafficking victims in Myanmar were already brought back home early morning of Tuesday (March 25).

“They arrived early this morning today, they are the first batch and there were 30 of them. Later in the evening, a chartered flight will bring home another 176 of them. 176, they will arrive tonight,” said De Vega in an interview over Radyo 630.

“They came from areas where they are forced to work in scamming factories,” he added.

READ: Lured to work in ‘scam centers,’ Filipinos pay for freedom or escape

At the Senate subcommittee on justice and human rights hearing on March 18, De Vega revealed that the victims would cross into Thailand from Myanmar via the Friendship Bridge.

Upon their arrival in Thailand, he said the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok would arrange their return by either chartering a direct flight from Mae Sot or transporting them to Bangkok for onward flights to the Philippines.