Two Filipinos included in The Guardian’s report on modern-day slavery

British newspaper The Guardian published a report on Saturday about modern-day slavery, and it's gone viral. As of this writing, the story has been shared on Facebook over 1,500 times and has garnered over 4,000 reactions.

“More than 200 years since it was abolished, slavery is thriving,” writers Annie Kelly and Kate Hodal said in the article. They cite a report from the UN International Labour Organisation, which estimates that “21 million people around the world are trapped in some form of modern slavery.”

The newspaper told the stories of 10 people from all over the world “who have experienced it first-hand.” Of the 10, two were Filipinos.

There was Elvira, who “managed to make a bold escape, waiting until her ‘employer’ was taking a nap before running to a nearby church for sanctuary,” write Kelly and Hodal.

She was first sent to Qatar, where the family she worked for paid her less than what they agreed in her contract. “I called the agency in the Philippines for help, but they never answered…I fought with my employer about my salary, but he would say: ‘Your contract is just a piece of paper’,” Elvira narrated.

Her employers in Qatar told Elvira they will let her go home, if she first went to work for one of their sisters based in London. There, she “worked all the time, without a day off, and slept on the floor by her bed.”

As though that wasn’t enough, Elvira says she was often shouted at, has been called stupid, and “dog” in Arabic. She only ate once a day, when she was given a piece of bread and a cup of tea. “I felt like a slave, like I was in prison. I wanted to run away, but they had my passport.”

While her employer was napping, Elvira ran away. She hid in a nearby church and phoned a federation of Filipino workers in London. “I hope to get justice and go home soon,” she said.

And then there’s Czar, a boxer who was “trafficked into forced labour in Australia.” A boxer since he was 15 years old, Czar decided to go pro as soon as he finished high school. “I met a Filipino man who said I could make A$200 a round in Australia. He gave me all the promises,” narrates Czar.

He flew to Sydney with four other boxers, and after the first-day high –where the man’s family, his son’s family, and his daughter’s family  joined them for a welcome celebration -  it all went quickly downhill.

Czar was told he was going to be a dishwasher, that he was going “to box in the day and clean up after the three families in the morning and evening.” His room was the garage, shared with four other people. “There were three bunk beds and no heating.”

It was after six months before he finally had his first fight. “I was paid A$3,000 but he deducted all my expenses, visa, and plane tickets, and I was left with $100.”

Unlike Elvira who is still waiting for justice, Czar was helped out by the police, to whom he turned to. “I now live in Melbourne, and I make good money to send home…Australia gave me another chance in life, and I’m grateful for that.”

The Guardian also spoke with a North Korean, a Peruvian, a Brazilian, a 19-year-old girl from Honduras, somebody from Bangladesh, another from Cambodia, and a 15-year-old girl from Kenya, and a Nepalese.

The International Office for Migration believes 70% of migrants arriving in Europe by boat have been victims of human trafficking, organ trafficking or exploitation,” the report continued.

Read the complete report here. 

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