Kota Kinabalu: Despite repeated government warnings of the dangers of leaving the country via the “back door” route to work in Sabah, there are still people who continue to fall victims from illegal recruiters.
The Zamboanga Sea-Based Anti-Trafficking Task Force rescued 48 victims of anti-trafficking in person in one of the private wharfs in Zamboanga, Monday night.
Of the 48 victims, Zamboanga City Police Chief P/Col. Alexander Lorenzo said 39 are adults and nine minors.
“They are from Luzon, Visayas, and other parts of Mindanao,” Lorenzo added.
The victims were rescued while they were about to board a wooden-hulled vessel at a private wharf in Barangay Baliwasan, Lorenzo said, adding the group was scheduled to travel to the Municipality of Taganak Turtle Islands in Tawi-Tawi then proceed to Sandakan.
The travel time from Zamboanga City is 22 hours while it only takes less than an hour boat ride to reach Sandakan.
Local uniformed authorities in Taganak conducted strict and regime regular sea patrols at the border between Tawi-Tawi and Sabah to deter human traffickers and other bad elements from using the municipality as jumping and escape route.
“The victims admitted they were hired to work in Malaysia by their illegal recruiters,” Lorenzo said.
The victims were rescued after receiving a tip-off from the public that a group of individuals was set to travel to Malaysia minutes before the rescuing operation was conducted.
Lorenzo said the group was traveling together with a “coordinator” who was not around when the task force members arrived at the private wharf.
The rescued victims were temporarily housed at the Processing Centre for Displaced Persons of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Barangay Mampang.
Last February, Police and Marine personnel also rescued 15 people, including three toddlers, from a human trafficking syndicate during a two-day operation on the waters off Tawi-Tawi.
The rescue missions were spearheaded by the Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi and involved members of the Marine Battalion Landing Teams 7 and 12, the Tawi-Tawi Provincial Police Office, and Bongao’s Municipal Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking.
Task Force Tawi-Tawi Commander Brigadier General Romeo Racadio said the victims were found aboard the M/V Trisha Kerstin II and M/V Ever Queen of the Pacific, which sailed from Zamboanga City to Bongao, Tawi-Tawi, when authorities checked the vessels February 9 and 10.
Initial investigations showed the victims were being transported to Sabah via the southern back door, and none of them had travel documents.
