Japan probing human trafficking in RP

A nine-member Japanese fact-finding team will arrive next week to look into the rampant trafficking of people from the Philippines to Japan.

Shuhei Ogawa, Japanese embassy spokesman, said the mission will be comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare, Ministry of Police, Ministry of Justice, and the Cabinet Secretarial Office.

"They will study how the Philippine government is working on anti-human trafficking," he said.

Ogawa said the fact-finding team will meet with non-government organizations engaged in anti-human trafficking activities during its five-day visit.

"Human trafficking is an international organized crime so we need international cooperation," he said.

Ogawa said the mission will also visit Thailand and other major sources of people being smuggled to Japan.

The deluge of entertainers to Japan from the Philippines and Thailand has become a serious problem for his government, he added.

Ogawa said many of these entertainers have unwittingly ended up as prostitutes upon their arrival in Japan.

Ogawa said the Philippines and Japan must work together to try to solve the problem of human trafficking as it affects both countries.

The problem can be effectively solved if stopped at its source, he added.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said yesterday two Filipinas have been rescued in Brunei after working as prostitutes for more than a month.

The two women were promised jobs as waitresses in Brunei but ended up as prostitutes, he added.

Earlier, eight victims of human trafficking were rescued in Malaysia and Brunei through the efforts of Philippine embassies in those countries.

The eight Filipinas were promised non-existent jobs by their recruiters.

In Southeast Asia, some 225,000 women and children have fallen victim to human traffickers, a US government report said.

Republic Act 9208, the Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act, provides for stiff penalties for those engaged in the trafficking of humans. –Marvin Sy