Government going after Laos cyber scam hub recruiters

MANILA, Philippines — The government has launched an investigation on the recruitment of 82 Filipinos who ended up working for a company involved in cyber scam operations in Laos, the Department of Migrant Workers (DWM) said yesterday.

Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said they will coordinate with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and other government agencies to determine the identities of the illegal recruiters who enticed the victims to work in companies in Laos involved in scam activities.

“We will work closely with the DOJ in collecting their statements, because we will ask them pointedly who recruited them,” Cacdac said in a news forum at the Dapo Restaurant and Bar in Quezon City.

The DMW will work with the Justice department in filing criminal complaints against the people who recruited the victims.

Seven Filipinos have been brought back home following the Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s crackdown on illegal companies within the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GSTEZ) in Bokeo province.

The government is working to bring home 75 other Filipinos who are still in Laos.

Cacdac said there is no timetable on when the remaining Filipinos will be repatriated, but added the DFA is doing everything to bring them home.

“The DMW’s role there is post-arrival assistance – meet at the airport and the distribution of proper financial assistance,” he said.

Aside from financial assistance, there will also be psycho-social support, according to DMW Assistant Secretary Jerome Alcantara.

Overseas Filipino workers who are victims of abuses, exploitation, maltreatment or contract violations, as well as illegal recruitment and human trafficking, are to receive P50,000 worth of financial assistance from the DMW.
The financial help will be taken from the “Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFWs na Nangangailangan” fund of the department

The DMW added that the repatriated Filipinos will also take part in the agency’s reintegration programs.
“These include employment facilitation and livelihood support,” the department said

The Laotian press said 771 people from 15 countries were arrested on Aug. 12 at the GTSEZ, which has emerged as a suspected hub for illegal activity in recent years.

Those arrested in the operation were mostly from Laos, Myanmar and China and were handed over to their respective embassies.
Aside from the Philippines, also reportedly arrested were people from Burundi, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.