Sixty of 437 Vietnamese forced laborers recently rescued from a Philippine casino arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday morning, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the same day.

The ministry is working with its Philippine counterpart to repatriate the remaining citizens.

According to the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines, more than 1,000 people, including 437 Vietnamese nationals, were rescued by the Philippine authorities on May 4 from forced labor at an establishment owned by the Clark Sun Valley Hub group in Pampanga Province, near Manila.

Upon being notified of the issue, the ministry’s Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines promptly visited and supported the rescued citizens, as well as collected their information, especially those with invalid travel documents.

On May 25, the ministry’s steering board for citizen protection convened a meeting on the issue, seeking measures to cooperate with the Philippine side to bring these citizens home as soon as possible.

The Consular Department and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of External Relations worked out a number of plans and teamed up with border gate management authorities to receive these citizens and hand them over to their localities and families.

AFP quoted a Philippine official as confirming on May 6 that local authorities managed to rescue 1,090 people from several Asian nations who were allegedly trafficked into the country, held captive, and forced to run online scams.

According to the Philippine authorities, their passports were confiscated and they were made to work up to 18 hours a day, with salary deductions for interacting with colleagues or taking extended breaks.

At least 12 suspected ringleaders of the scheme, including seven Chinese nationals, four Indonesians, and one Malaysian, have been arrested and are set to be charged with human trafficking.

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