In May 2023, 60 Vietnamese were successfully rescued from a casino in the Philippines. At the end of the month, they arrived at Tanoshnyat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, as confirmed by a photo from the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Vietnam was able to return 60 Vietnamese who had been tricked into working in a Philippine casino. However, this is only a small portion of those enslaved. The total number of Vietnamese nationals trapped in Philippine gambling clubs is 437.
What became of the rescued
A group of 60 Vietnamese successfully landed at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat Airport. The plane landed early Tuesday morning, as confirmed by a Foreign Ministry spokesman. The men were part of a group of indentured laborers working for the Clark Sun Valley Hub Corporation in Pampanga province.
When it was possible to rescue
The raid to rescue the Vietnamese prisoners of slavery who had been tricked into leaving their native country and entering the Philippines illegally took place on May 4, 2023. The Philippine National Police, PNP, was responsible for rescuing the townspeople from another country.
According to a PNP spokesperson, the victims themselves accepted the job after the other party offered to pay for the flight and lodging. However, upon arrival, the Vietnamese were robbed of their passports and then forced to work up to 18 hours a day.
The police, who rescued 60 Vietnamese, also managed to arrest 12 suspected ringleaders. Notably, most were Chinese nationals. Also among the suspects were residents of Indonesia and Malaysia. At the moment, they are accused of human trafficking.
What were the Vietnamese doing in the casinos?
Servitude was expressed by the need to commit online fraud. The Vietnamese forced people to buy up cryptocurrency or fund fake bank accounts, which the gullible users quickly lost access to. It is also known that the casinos where the Vietnamese worked gave new customers no deposit casino bonuses and then did not pay out the money they won.
As the rescued noted, they felt like prisoners without cameras. At the same time, they were forbidden to talk to their roommates where they lived. Also, the casino owners were not allowed to leave the building.
As statistics show, cases, where Vietnamese are forced to work illegally are becoming more and more frequent. Over the past year, about 1000 Vietnamese were taken into slavery in casinos in Cambodia. All of them were rescued and brought home.