Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that 13 out of 14 Vietnamese women who had been tricked into coming to the Philippines and forced to engage in prostitution have been repatriated after being rescued by local authorities in late September.

The remainder, who is currently battling COVID-19, is being cared for by an organization which protects women’s and children’s rights in the Philippines.

The Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines is taking necessary measures to protect the rights and legitimate interests of the COVID-stricken Vietnamese citizen.

Filipino police said on September 27 that they had found 24 human trafficking victims, 14 Vietnamese and 10 Chinese women, thanks to tip-offs about the victims being imprisoned inside three apartment buildings in Manila.

Two Chinese suspects were also arrested during the rescue operations.

Filipino media reported that the trafficking victims were apparently promised stable jobs in the country, but instead were forced into prostitution.

The rescue operations took place amidst a crackdown by Philippine authorities on illegal Chinese business activities.

Late last month, Filipino authorities announced that they had foiled the operations of 175 gambling companies and deported around 40,000 Chinese workers following multiple reports of murder, kidnapping, and other crimes committed by Chinese nationals in the Philippines.

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