DFA investigates personnel, deploys lawyer to probe treatment of OFWs in Syria

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said certain personnel were under administrative investigation while a human rights lawyer was deployed to Syria to probe allegations of trafficking and mistreatment of overseas Filipino workers.

The DFA issued the statement in response to the Washington Post report "Sold Into Syrian Servitude, Filipina Workers Tell of Abuse, Rape and Imprisonment.”

“Oh hell. I will wring the necks of those in the Philippine embassy in Damascus who failed to report this. My President will expect no less from me. Hell is coming,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said on Twitter. 

Locsin also said

The Washington Post story recounts the experiences of several Filipino women who were recruited to work in the United Arab Emirates, but then once they got there were trafficked to Syria, "at times subjected to physical and sexual attacks by their employers and denied the salaries they were promised," said the report, citing interviews with the women through Facebook Messenger.

The report adds that about 35 women are now staying at the embassy in Damascus. One of them is a 15-year-old girl from Cotabato City who had been brought to the Middle East by recruiters at the age of 12.

The DFA vowed that it was taking measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Filipino victims of trafficking in Syria and providing legal assistance to them.

“The DFA… has also been negotiating with the wards' employers to secure the former's exit visas. It has also been working to obtain various clearances for the wards required by the Syrian Government,” it said.

In December, three wards were repatriated while 12 more are scheduled to come home this month, the department added.

“The Philippines will always seek to protect all Filipino migrant workers against all forms of exploitation and abuse… In addition, the Philippines is in Tier 1 of the Global Trafficking in Persons Report of the US State Department and continues to be at the forefront of the fight against trafficking in persons,” it said. — Julia Mari Ornedo/BM, GMA News