source: www.kanlungan.ngo.ph

Joan (not her real name) is 31 years old, from Novaliches, Quezon City, and has two children aged ten and nine. Last year, Joan was recruited to work in Malaysia as a waitress. She left the Philippines on December 4, 2009, expecting to work at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

However, upon arriving there, she was locked up in a room with 14 other Filipino women, and told that they will soon be deployed to different pubs where they will work as prostitutes. She immediately texted her husband, who then proceeded to report to Kanlungan Centre Foundation about his wife’s condition.

Kanlungan immediately contacted one of its partner organizations in Malaysia, Teneganita, which then facilitated her rescue along with 11 other Filipina women.

Since December 2009, Joan has been staying at an immigration center in Silangcor Malaysia, which has a shelter for trafficked women. She, and the 11 other women, had filed a complaint to the magistrate against their employer, and they are all waiting for the resolution of the case.

In the meantime, Joan reports that conditions in the shelter are less than ideal. She tells her family that there is hardly enough food and water for them, and that the shelter is unsanitary. Some of the women have already succumbed to sickness. They also complained of being treated like criminals by the Malaysian authorities, instead of human trafficking survivors. They are appealing to the Philippine government to make hasten their repatriation back to the country.

On behalf of Joan and the other trafficked women, Kanlungan has repeatedly filed the necessary reports and appeals to the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia to facilitate their legal concerns and immediate repatriation. So far, there has still been no satisfactory response.

In the meantime, Joan sits in her room, and waits.

[Kanlungan Centre Foundation, Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit organization engaged in direct service, advocacy work, research, and policy interventions for Filipino migrant workers who are survivors of human trafficking, illegal recruitment, workplace abuse and non-payment of wages, as well as their families and their communities.

Founded on July 17, 1989, Kanlungan initially operated as a crisis intervention center for prospective, on-site and returned migrant workers, as well as their families. In 1992, the organization decided on a more holistic approach, which would enhance the workers’ individual and collective strengths and advocating for social and policy change. Thus, it expanded its services to include legislative and policy advocacy, organizing of families of overseas workers, education and training, research, information and publication and, most recently, local economy development and capability building.

Kanlungan Centre Foundation, Inc. is a done institution accredited with the Philippine Council for Ngo Certification. To know more about KANLUNGAN and their advocacy visit www.kanlungan.ngo.ph ]