Another 80 Vietnamese rescued from Filipino casino

By Vu Anh, Thanh Danh June 1, 2023 | 05:56 am PT

60 Vietnamese people rescued from a casino in the Philippines arrive at Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC, May 30, 2023. Photo by Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Some 80 more Vietnamese were repatriated from a Filipino casino this week, bringing the number of Vietnamese recently rescued from Filipino trafficking rings to 140, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Vietnamese authorities are continuing cooperation efforts with Filipino authorities to bring more trafficked Vietnamese citizens back to Vietnam, deputy spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Duc Thang said at a press conference.

"Vietnam supports the legal, safe and orderly migration of peoples, in principle, while resolutely fighting illegal migration, human smuggling and trafficking," said Thang.

On May 4, Filipino authorities raided a casino owned by Clark Sun Valley Hub Corporation near Manila, rescuing 1,090 people. Among them were 437 Vietnamese citizens.

Victims said they were tricked into traveling to the Philippines for work.

When they arrived in the Southeast Asian nation, they had their passports seized and were forced to work 18 hours a day performing online fraud. At least 12 "masterminds" have been arrested for human trafficking, including seven Chinese, four Indonesians and one Malaysian.

Another 60 rescued Vietnamese citizens were repatriated on May 30.