Filipino trafficking victims still held in Myanmar scam compounds

BANGKOK, Thailand — In May 2024, Martha (not her real name), a former OFW from the UAE, traveled to Bangkok to work in a “communications company,” with a ฿60,000–฿70,000 (USD 2,000) monthly salary, excluding bonuses. She grabbed the opportunity because it also promised free airfares and accommodation.

She found the job advertisement on Facebook. However, as soon as she arrived in Bangkok, she was picked up by a Chinese national. Instead of working in Thailand, she was brought to Myawaddy, a border town between Myanmar and Thailand, to work for Yong Qian Company, a scam center operating in the Dong Mae Park Zone.

Martha was involved in a "love scam" targeting nationals from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iraq, and Turkey.

Instead of receiving the promised salary, Martha was paid only around ฿2,500. When she failed to meet her quota, she was physically abused and starved.

She also witnessed the Chinese gang torturing other workers. To survive, she said she entered into a relationship with a foreign man who was also working in the scam center.

In early February 2025, Martha and hundreds of other foreign nationals were rescued by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) following weeks of pressure from the Thai government, which included cutting off electricity, food, and water supplies. Yet, many scam centers continue to operate using generators, smuggled fuel, and Starlink satellite internet, while others have relocated to deeper, more remote areas, making contacts to human trafficking victims and rescue efforts futile.

Martha was among the more than 100 Filipinos repatriated to the Philippines with the assistance of the Thai government, the Civil Society Network for Human Trafficking Victims Assistance (CSNHTV), and the Police Attaché of the Philippine Embassy last March.

READ: 176 more Filipino trafficking victims in Myanmar set for repatriation

According to Colonel Dominador Matalang, the police attaché of the Philippine Embassy, from 2022 to 2025, 802 known individuals trafficked to Laos and Myanmar were rescued and repatriated under his watch. Of these, 429 are women, highlighting the disproportionate impact of trafficking on female victims.

The long wait

Maria (not her real name), one of the Filipinas rescued from scam center, is heavily pregnant. She is still in the camp, awaiting repatriation. Her situation is getting worse due to malnutrition and physical abuse she experienced under the Chinese gang.

“Most of them became pregnant during their stay in the compound, some with their boyfriends, and some as a result of rape by the Chinese mafia,” according to Jay Krittiya of CSNHTV.

Despite the ongoing rescue by the DKBA, hundreds of human trafficking victims also paid “to escape,” shelling out as much as USD 3,000. Some were also scammed by their would-be rescuers after paying them.

Matalang said some Filipinos were victimized by unscrupulous individuals posing as NGOs to expedite their “rescue.”

Repatriation of human trafficking survivors may take three weeks up to two months. They are first verified by the Philippine Embassy in Yangon before Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) completes further processing.

Once the verification is confirmed, Myanmar’s MFA coordinates with its Thai counterpart, informing the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok that the HTVs are cleared for transfer. Only after this clearance can Filipino officials, along with Thai immigration authorities, travel to Myawaddy to receive and escort them across the border to Mae Sot.

Travel and flight arrangements from Bangkok to Manila must also be finalized ahead of time to ensure smooth repatriation.

Filipinos still trapped in scam hubs

The CSNHTV has identified 158 victims still trapped in scam compounds, enduring inhumane treatment and in urgent need of rescue. Of these, 66 are held in three sites controlled by the DKBA, while the remaining 92, including 82 Filipinos and 10 Ethiopians, are detained in 15 compounds under the control of the Border Guard Force (BGF).

CSNHTV also mentioned that in the DKBA-controlled area, these are the companies controlled by the Chinese Mafia: Hong Tai, Deko Park, Wawlay, and Hexin. Twelve Filipinos are still in Hexin. In the BGF-controlled areas, 82 Filipinos remain trapped across 14 different compounds, all urgently awaiting rescue.

Another Filipina, Sonia, arrived at Myanmar’s border in February. Despite the desperate plea of Matalang to stop her at immigration, she was still able to cross into the country and began working at Hexin. In the latest update, she has attempted suicide multiple times. She and others are subjected to severe physical abuses, including being forced to squat for up to seven hours, slapping and punching, working 18 hours a day, being made to carry buckets of water, and enduring other forms of torture.

Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that out of approximately 10,000 foreign victims from 39 nations, more than 8,000 have been repatriated, while the rest remain stranded, awaiting return for nearly four months.

Meanwhile, recent estimates from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United States Institute of Peace indicate that over 100,000 individuals remain trapped in scam compounds across Myanmar.

“Many victims are pleading for help and enduring horrific abuse, only a few have been rescued, typically those whose cases went viral or attracted intense public pressure. For most others, appeals from families, embassies, governments, or civil society have been met with silence from the authorities,” CSNHTV said./mcm

(2025/05/19-09:05)