PH Embassy in Vienna Distributes Financial Assistance for OFW Trafficking Victims in Slovenia

Ambassador Evangelina A. Bernas and Labor Attaché Delmer R. Cruz distribute financial assistance to OFWs in Ljubljana who were victims of human trafficking

VIENNA 02 May 2025 — The Philippine Embassy in Vienna and its attached agency, the Migrant Workers Office Vienna, distributed financial assistance to 10 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Slovenia who are victims of alleged human trafficking. The workers were granted temporary residence and have found other employers in Slovenia while the investigation into their case continues.

Philippine Ambassador to Slovenia Evangelina A. Bernas praised the workers for their bravery in coming forward to formally complain against their egregious conditions and cooperate with both Philippine embassy officials and Slovenian authorities. She encouraged other OFWs to contact MWO Vienna if they find that their rights as set in their contracts are violated.

In June 2024, the Embassy assisted the ten OFWs in submitting complaints against their employer to the Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in Milan. They were recruited in 2023 as hotel and restaurant workers but were deployed to a different employer and worked under inhumane working conditions. Having fled their work and after assistance from the Embassy and Slovenian authorities, the Filipino workers were granted temporary residence in Slovenia and were able to find other full-time employment while the investigation for a human trafficking case against their former employer is ongoing.

MWO Vienna facilitated the grant of financial assistance from the AKSYON Fund of the Department of Migrant Workers. END

Ambassador Bernas listens to the OFWs as they recount their experience in Slovenia which led to the investigation for a human trafficking case against their employer.

For more information, visit https://www.viennape.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippine-embassy.at  or https://www.facebook.com/PHinAustria/,  https://www.twitter.com/PHLinAustria  or https://www.instagram.com/phinaustria/