(MANILA) Philippine authorities have apprehended more than 2,700 people at several buildings in Manila where suspected victims of human trafficking were coerced into recruiting players for online games, police said Tuesday.
Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Singaporean and Malaysian nationals, as well as Pakistani, Cameroonian, Sudanese, Burmese and Filipino citizens are among those who were in buildings in the capital targeted by a police operation on Monday night in Tuesday.
Authorities are detaining and questioning 2,724 people, including more than 1,500 Filipinos, and are trying to determine who among these individuals is a victim or a suspect, said Michelle Sabino, spokesperson for the National Police’s cybercrime unit. filipino.
According to Mme Sabino, the alleged victims had accepted job offers posted on Facebook to work in the Philippines and “find players” there for online games.
Many of them were forced to work every day for 12 hours for some 24,000 pesos (400 euros) per month, and were prohibited from leaving the premises, the spokeswoman said.
This is the largest anti-trafficking operation ever conducted in the Philippines, according to the spokeswoman.
AFP journalists present on Tuesday saw two buses and two police vans parked outside the buildings where the operation took place.
PHOTO JAM STA ROSA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
“Everything will be investigated,” said Mr.me Sabino, including whether these workers were involved in online extortion.
The international community is concerned about the growing number of internet scams in the Asia-Pacific region. In particular, victims find themselves forced to promote pseudo-investments in cryptocurrencies.
In May, Philippine authorities rescued more than a thousand people from several Asian countries who were being held captive and forced to participate in online scams targeting victims in Europe, the United States and Canada.