June 22, 202
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is investigating a suspected illegal recruitment and human trafficking network following the repatriation of 24 overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs) who were detained in Russia for over nine months.
In a radio interview on Monday, DMW Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said the 24 OFWs returned to the Philippines after being released by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the request of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN Summit in Kazan last week.
Cacdac said initial interviews conducted by the DMW revealed that many of the Filipino workers had previous records of leaving the country, particularly to Hong Kong, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
“What happened was, 18 of them have records with us, six do not, meaning they went directly to Russia from here, but the 18 have records with us, which means they were OFWs at some point in time,” he said.
Once the interviews done by the DMW’s anti-illegal recruitment and anti-human trafficking team are completed, each case will be documented to determine how the workers were recruited and transported to Russia.
“The incidents were different, the methods of recruitment varied, but they all ended up there working in Yakutsk, Russia, which is about an eight-hour plane ride from Moscow. This is already on the eastern side heading toward Japan, the Asian side of Russia. And this is what we are investigating now,” he said.
Cacdac said most Filipinos worked as cleaners in Yakutsk, adding that investigators have identified what appears to be a pattern of targeting Filipinos for jobs in the cleaning sector.
He cited the case of two OFWs who were working as domestic workers in Hong Kong, where they were recruited.
“Kasi tinaga sila ng halaga ng pera. ‘Yung isa PHP200,000, ‘yung isa PHP150,000, ‘yung isa salary deduction. Bagamat minimal ang charge sa kanya, pagdating doon binabawasan siya ng sweldo dahil ‘yun ang pambayad sa recruiter doon (They were forced to pay a lot. One paid PHP200,000, the other paid PHP150,000, the other one through salary deduction. Although the charge against her is minimal, her salary is being deducted when she got there because that is the payment to the recruiter there),” Cacdac explained.
“So hindi magandang senaryo (it’s not a good scenario) in the sense that they are all potential victims of human trafficking.”
DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia said many of the workers bypassed official migration procedures and entered Russia on tourist visas or through arrangements facilitated by brokers and illegal recruiters.
“Kaya po ang karamihan sa kanila ay biktima po ng (That’s why most of them are victims of) illegal recruitment and trafficking in person,” Olalia said.
He said the repatriated OFWs are now under the care of the DMW, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), and other government agencies while they gather evidence against recruiters who allegedly lured them into jobs in Russia through irregular channels.
“We are trying to have a case build-up para nang sa ganon malaman natin ‘yung buong istorya kung paano sila nakarating doon (so we’ll know the whole story of how they ended up there),” Olalia said.
“Once we get the affidavits and sworn statements of our victims, then we will file and arrest these persons at sasampahan natin ng kaso (and we will file the case).” (PNA)