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THE
Philippine Embassies in China and Singapore have issued
separate warnings against the rising cases of
trafficking of Filipino workers lured to these countries
by illegal recruiters with promises of decent paying
jobs only to end up as prostitutes and forced laborers.
In her report to the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA), Ambassador to Singapore Belen
Anota said such trafficking cases expanded to 212 last
year from 125 in 2006, a surge of 70 percent. In 2005
there were only 59 cases recorded.
Anota has also sought the assistance of
the US Department of State’s Office to Monitor and
Combat Trafficking in Persons through Ambassador Steven
Steiner.
“They [workers] should ensure that there
is a contract duly verified by the Philippine Overseas
Employment Administration [POEA] before packing their
bags for
Singapore,”
said Anota in her report to the DFA.
She added that “they should not allow
themselves to be deceived by the sweet tongue and false
promises made by sex and labor traffickers because once
they reach Singapore, they become more vulnerable to
intimidation, deception and exploitation.”
Anota said that of the 212 Filipino
victims of human trafficking, 57 had been coerced to
engage in prostitution. These victims have ended up as
pub workers, worked in escort service and as pickup
girls.
As for trafficking to China, DFA
spokesman Claro Cristobal reported “a growing number of
Filipinos have become victims of Filipino and foreign
illegal recruiters enticing Filipinos to work in
Shanghai and other cities in China,” quoting a report
from the embassy in Beijing.
He warned of the dire consequences of
falling into these illegal recruiters’ trap because
their victims “have ended up either underpaid, jobless
or jailed for working illegally or beyond their visa
validity or category.”
The employment opportunities in China
are in the skilled, technical and professional
categories, but none for domestic service, he added.
He said all companies and institutions
seeking foreign workers need to be authorized to hire
foreign workers by the Chinese government represented by
the Municipal Labor and Social Security Bureau.
“While it is true that there are
positions available, for example, for English teachers
in
China,
not all schools are authorized by the Chinese government
to hire foreign teachers. Most of the cases of contract
breaches and illegal recruitment involve unauthorized
schools and fly-by-night recruitment agencies who hire
Filipino teachers via the Internet or by telephone,”
said Cristobal.
Since the government imposed strict
regulations governing the dep-
loyment of entertainers to Japan, Singapore and other
nearby countries have been the favorite destination of
the displaced entertainers because they do not have to
get visas to enter those countries.
In Singapore Filipino entertainers, most
of whom are women, enter as tourists. They then renew
their visas until they complete six months of stay in
the island-state. |
