JAKARTA - The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Myanmar had released 78 Filipinos who had been detained for immigration-related offenses after being trafficked into scam operations after Manila’s months-long diplomatic efforts.

The latest development was announced by the Department of Foreign Affairs in a statement issued in Manila on Saturday night, April 18. The DFA said all 78 Filipinos had been employed in scam hubs in Myanmar and had been serving sentences for illegal entry and residency. 

The department said the Philippine Embassy in Yangon is now facilitating the “prompt, safe and orderly repatriation of the 78 Filipinos to the Philippines, in coordination with Myanmar authorities.” 

The DFA added, “The Department expresses its appreciation to Myanmar authorities for this compassionate and humanitarian gesture, made during the Myanmar New Year (Thingyan), which reflects the goodwill between Myanmar and the Philippines.”

The release followed an earlier public disclosure by the Department of Migrant Workers during a media briefing in Manila on Monday, February 16. At that briefing, DMW Undersecretary Felicitas Bay said the victims were still under Myanmar custody and that Philippine officials were trying to secure access to them. 

Bay said, “Currently, according to the report of our labour attaché who is based in Bangkok, there are about 78 who are still in Myanmar, and coordination is being made with the Philippine Embassy in Myanmar, because we don’t have a presence in Myanmar.”

She added that the Philippine side was “still awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Myanmar” before a Bangkok-based team could visit the detainees and begin arrangements for their eventual repatriation.

Citing DMW data, Bay said 839 Filipinos had been repatriated last year through the AKSYON Fund, with the government covering their return tickets and extending welfare assistance to 690 of them. She said that support included food assistance, medical care, hospital treatment, hygiene kits, clothing, medicines, and payment of immigration penalty fees.

Annual global profits from cyber scam operations are estimated at around US$64 billion, according to a United States Institute of Peace (USIP) senior study group as quoted in a UNHCR report in February 2026.