PH, Cambodia bolster cooperation vs scam farms, trafficking

The Philippines and Cambodia have agreed to step up cooperation in curbing transnational crimes, such as online scam farms and human trafficking, which involved many Filipinos.

Traffickers in the past three years have exploited Filipinos and other nationals in forced labor in online scam operation facilities which have expanded rapidly in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.  

An undetermined number of Filipinos remained trapped in various scam farms across Southeast Asia, the Department of Foreign Affairs said, but assured that government efforts to free them are underway.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro and Cambodia Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn held a ceremonial exchange of notes in Phnom Penh where both countries agreed to expand areas of cooperation for combating transnational crimes on the sidelines of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s state visit this week.

It amended their 2016 memorandum of understanding to address non-traditional security concerns, such as human trafficking, cybercrimes, and other forms of online fraud, among others.

In his remarks in Cambodia, Marcos expressed serious concerns that human trafficking, cybercrime, illicit drugs, and other transnational threats “affect the safety of our citizens and the stability of our societies."

“It is in this spirit that we agreed to strengthen collaboration among our law enforcement and security institutions, so that our collective response will be swift, coordinated, and effective," he said.

The United Nations has expressed alarm over the thousands of trafficked individuals in the region, saying the situation has “reached the level of a humanitarian and human rights crisis.” 

Many victims of scam farm operations who were initially promised legal jobs are kidnapped and sold to other fraudulent operations, according to UN rapporteurs.

The DFA advised all Filipinos to go through proper foreign employment procedures established by the Department of Migrant Workers before departing the country for overseas employment. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News