SBAT Task Force rescues human trafficking victims

by Jocelyn P. Alvarez

ZAMBOANGA CITY, 17 Feb. ( PIA 9) - -  The Sea-Based Anti-Trafficking (SBAT) Task Force rescued Wednesday night five women believed to be victims of human trafficking.

The rescue came at around 8 in the evening after a concerned citizen called the Social Welfare Department here and reported that a group of five young ladies were being (suspiciously) sheltered in one of the houses in her neighborhood in Barangay Baliwasan, this city. 

Socci Roxas of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said, after the office received such report, member-agencies of the SBAT Task Force such as the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), PHL Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), Dept. of Justice (DOJ), DSWD, Visayan Forum and other member-agencies immediately proceeded to the area for the rescue operation.

All of the 5 victims who were 20 years old and above were from the Visayas region. “They were brought here in Zamboanga City as their “stop off” point before finally proceeding to Malaysia,” Roxas informed.

“They were without proper travel documents or working contract or permit,” she said.

“Malaysia is being used as the jump off point, but most of them (victims) goes to Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, these are countries where our people are banned to work because of the unstable peace and order and there is high risk of maltreatment and exploitation,’ she explained.

Four of the five rescued victims were brought to DSWD and one to Visayan Forum for temporary shelter, psychological intervention and counseling before sending them back to their places of origin. (JPA/ PIA- ZBST)