Eighty more Vietnamese forced laborers recently rescued from a Philippine casino have arrived home safely, sending the tally to 140 as of Thursday, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ministry’s Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines are working with their Philippine counterparts to repatriate the remaining 297 Vietnamese citizens, said Nguyen Duc Thang, deputy spokesperson of the ministry at a press briefing on Thursday afternoon.

Thang affirmed that Vietnam promotes legal, safe, and orderly migration while adopting preventive measures against illegal migration and human trafficking.

The ministry also teamed up with localities and competent forces in Vietnam to raise public awareness about job scams.

Earlier this month, the Philippine authorities rescued more than 1,000 people, including 437 Vietnamese nationals, from forced labor at an establishment owned by the Clark Sun Valley Hub group in Pampanga Province, near Manila.

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 were arrested and are set to be charged with human trafficking.

On Tuesday, the first 60 Vietnamese forced laborers were repatriated, the ministry said.

The deputy spokesperson at the press briefing also provided further information related to a fatal car crash that killed 11 Vietnamese citizens in China near the border with Vietnam.

The ministry’s Consular Department and the Consulate General of Vietnam in Nanning, China in coordination with their Chinese counterparts assisted the bereaved families with procedures to bring the victims’ bodies home as well as adopted essential citizen protection measures, including taking two workers injured in the accident home, Thang said.

According to the ministry, the car crash occurred at 6:30 am on May 19 in Jingxi City, Guangxi Province, southern China, leaving 11 Vietnamese nationals dead and two Vietnamese injured.

Guangxi is an autonomous, mountainous region bordering northern Vietnam, with its Jingxi City sharing a border with Vietnam’s northern mountainous province of Cao Bang.

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