Pinoy workers in Kuwait warned vs white slavery syndicates

The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait has launched a massive campaign warning female overseas Filipino workers of white slavery syndicates that have already victimized at least 17 Filipino women.

Philippine Ambassador to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya said during an interview in the weekly radio program "Para Sa Iyo Bayan" of Vice President Noli de Castro that the massive information campaign was launched because of increasing cases of white slavery involving Filipino women.

A 17-year-old Filipino domestic worker from Pigkawayan, North Cotabato is reportedly the latest victim of a Bangladeshi and an Indonesian who are behind the syndicate.

Endaya said Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior has stopped granting visas to Bangladeshi nationals because of their involvement in white slavery in Kuwait.

Several Bangladeshi citizens have been arrested in raids but five Filipinos were also jailed after Kuwaiti police identified them as pimps.

The 17-year-old Filipina told Endaya that she escaped from her employer because an Indonesian named Yolly offered her a higher pay for work in a restaurant there.

She said a taxi was to take her to the restaurant but the Bangladeshi driver brought her instead to a building where seven Bangladeshi nationals raped her.

The Filipina was scheduled to undergo surgery yesterday because of a fracture in spinal column. She suffered bruises in the neck and a fracture in her spinal column after she jumped from the fourth floor of the building to escape from the suspects. She is still in shock and is being treated at the Al-Razi Orthopedic Hospital.

Endaya said the embassy has identified her recruiting agency in Kuwait and is now coordinating with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to identify the recruiter in the Philippines.

"The victim will remain in Kuwait after the surgery and until the embassy and the police get all necessary information on the suspects," he added.

The victim was only 16 years old when she arrived in Kuwait last December but her documents showed that she was already 23 years old. The embassy gave assurances that she will be provided with legal and consular assistance.

An official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), who asked not to be named, disclosed that they are reviewing the country’s labor policy on Kuwait because of the increasing incidence of rape committed against Filipinas, who are mostly employed there as domestic helpers.

The embassy made several representations before the Kuwaiti government in the past to protect Filipino workers and to ensure that perpetrators of sexual crimes are brought to justice.

"The department may recommend that we enforce a worker deployment ban in Kuwait, if based on our assessment the country is unsafe for our female workers," the official said.

Kidnapping in China

Meanwhile, the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen, China warned Filipinos lured to go to China for business or leisure that they may instead end up becoming victims of kidnap-for-ransom gangs.

Consul General Emelinda Lee-Pineda said that the consulate has assisted a Filipino couple from Marawi City who were lured to go to China by a Chinese woman they met in Baclaran.

The woman, identified only as Ailyn, reportedly encouraged the couple to go to China to buy cheaper cellphones for their buy-and-sell business in the Philippines.

The couple arrived in Xiamen last Oct. 17 and was immediately taken outside of Xiamen where the suspects took their passports, cellphones and money amounting to $3,000.

The couple was not allowed to leave the house and the suspects demanded that they deposit P2.5 million in a bank account in the Philippines in exchange for their release.

The kidnappers also threatened to kill them and their families in the Philippines if they fail to deposit the amount. The couple, however, managed to escape last Sunday after 21 days in captivity and immediately sought the help of the Philippine Consulate.

Pineda also cited a case of a Filipina who arrived in China with her father to marry someone in exchange for financial assistance and a better life in China.

She, however, discovered after arrival that the groom was mentally ill. When she refused to marry the man, she and her father were detained in the man’s house, their passports were taken and P1.5 million was demanded by the suspects, who also threatened to kill her mother and two sisters in the Philippines.