Manila Standard Today
5th Feb 2008
THE trafficking in Filipinos in Singapore reached an all-time high last year, with the introduction of budget air fares coming as an aggravating factor.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said that a report by Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Belen Fule Anota revealed that the 212 cases of human trafficking reported in 2007 represented a 70 percent increase from the 125 cases in 2006.
Anota said 2007 saw the embassy handling the “highest number of human trafficking cases since the embassy started monitoring these cases three years ago” where there were only 59 cases reported.
The report described the increase “alarming,” even as it noted that it might represent only a “small fraction of all the Filipino human trafficking victims in Singapore.” Those interviewed had said many others were either unable or too afraid to escape from where they were being exploited.
Budget air fares, which significantly lowered the cost of travel from the Philippines to Singapore, made it “easier and cheaper” for traffickers to do their deed.
The embassy blamed “the network of illegal recruiters and, quite possibly, syndicates operating across borders, who manage to persuade their recruits through various modes of deception and intimidation.”
Filipino victims are pushed to try their luck in Singapore not only because of poverty but also because of the promise of lucrative jobs overseas.
“The existence of a large number of bars/pubs in Singapore’s red light districts fuels the demand for Filipino women,” the report said.
Based on the records, the modus operandi essentially has illegal recruiters promise young women non-existent jobs as waitresses or guest relations officers in restaurants and hotels in Singapore.
They are each charged a minimum of $100 to as recruitment fee in the Philippines, and given roundtrip tickets where the return ticket is oftentimes fake, a fake invitation letter, and “show money” for showing to Philippine immigration officials who scrutinize their financial capacity as tourists.
Expecting to land legitimate jobs, Filipino women end up working as prostitutes. They are forced to provide sexual services to customers and earn commissions from alcoholic drinks to enable them to pay the $1,000 to $4,000 they allegedly owe their handlers.
The report said victims who fled to the embassy were provided shelter, assisted in their repatriation back to the Philippines and told to file a complaint either in Singapore or in the Philippines.
The embassy said that while several human traffickers have been apprehended and many cases have been filed against other violators, more stringent requirements have also been imposed on the travel of minors and young women—the most vulnerable to human trafficking—in efforts to stop this transnational crime.
“Despite these efforts, however, the problem is complex and does not have any short-term solutions as it involves conditions in the source country [the Philippines] as well as the destination country [Singapore],” the report revealed.
Anota said that the embassy had been coordinating with authorities from the Philippines and Singapore to address the growing problem.
Meanwhile, the United States’ Human Trafficking Report of 2007 released in June, already noted this increase of Asian women (from People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) being deceived or coerced into sexual servitude in the city-state so much so that it downgraded Singapore from Tier 1 in 2006 to Tier 2 in 2007.
The US State Department has four categories on levels of compliance with the Trafficking in Persons Act:
• Tier 1 is the category of countries that “fully comply” with the law.
• Tier 2 is for countries that “do not fully comply with these standards but making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance.”
Tier 2 Watch List is for countries “requiring special scrutiny because of a high or significantly increasing number of victims; failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons; or an assessment as Tier 2 based on commitments to take action over the next year.”
• Tier 3 is for countries that “neither satisfy the minimum standards nor demonstrate a significant effort to come into compliance; countries in this tier are subject to potential non-humanitarian and non-trade sanctions.” Michael Caber
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