NGO wages campaign vs drug-mule recruiters...

10/22/2009

A non-governmental organization helping distressed migrant Filipino workers yesterday warned the public against international drug and human smuggling syndicates seeking to gain from people’s miseries in the aftermath of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” by offering them jobs as drug mules in exchange for easy money.

Former Labor Undersecretary Susan Ople, head of the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, also said these syndicates were on the prowl for unsuspecting and vulnerable typhoon victims, offering them non-existent jobs in Malaysia, Maldives, Syria and Italy.

“We call on the government to crack down on these syndicates that seek to exploit our people and gain from their miseries during these calamity-stricken times,” Ople said as she cited a report on the recent arrest of two Filipinos caught smuggling drugs to Iran as well as the arrest of another pregnant Filipino woman caught with cocaine in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

There are 500 Filipinos detained in various jails around the world on drug smuggling cases, she said. Of these, 200 were arrested in China, she added.

“Filipinos caught with illegal contraband end up facing maximum penalties while the masterminds of these syndicates, mostly Nigerians and Zambians, are able to go underground because of their extensive underworld connections,” Ople said.

Ople also warned Filipinos seeking jobs abroad not to fall prey to illegal recruiters. “We continue to receive information about bogus job offers to Malaysia, Maldives, Syria and Italy. In Naga City, for example, we met a victim of illegal recruitment who forked out P20,000 as processing fee for a non-existent job in Italy. The recruiter said that an Italian employer wanted to hire 1,000 Filipinos with or without experience but they needed to pay for the processing of visas which would be handled by a private foundation. Clearly, this is an outright hoax but there were people who fell for it,” she said.

Ople also received information about continuous recruitment activities by human smuggling rings in Malaysia where victims were promised quick deployment on a salary deduction basis, but they ended up as victims of forced labor and even prostitution abroad.

“We are issuing this warning so that our local officials can be on heightened alert and to prevent more Filipinos from falling victim to the diabolical undertakings of these international syndicates,” Ople said.

For those wishing to verify whether job offers abroad are legitimate or not, Ople said the applicants must always check with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (www.poea.gov.ph) or they can get in touch with the Ople Center via blasoplecenter@gmail.com or by calling up the Center’s hotline: 833-5337. Michaela P. del Callar

Back to top

For comments about this website:Webmaster@tribune.net.ph
The Daily Tribune © 2006