Migrant’s Story: Malyn Gilven of The Philippines

Malyn is a 21-year-old Filipino Muslim woman. She was born in Mindanao and raised by her grandmother. Both of Malyn’s parents have been overseas Filipino workers in Malaysia since she was a little girl. Malyn worked as a domestic helper in Syria and is a victim of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

In 2018, a friend who was working as a domestic helper in Saudi Arabia told her she would introduce Malyn to the person who helped her find a job abroad. Soon after, Malyn received a FB message from a woman offering her to work as a domestic helper. Malyn asked the woman if it was okay for her to work abroad because she was only 15 years old at that time. The woman replied, “do not worry I will take care of your papers”. In the process of arranging the necessary paperwork for her employment, the woman changed Malyn’s legal name and birthdate on her paperwork to make her appear older. Malyn expressed concern but the woman assured her this would only ensure the process would go smoothly. Malyn was never given a copy of her work contract. She was not aware of who her employer is, how much she would get paid, and what country she would be going to. Along with a small group of other Filipino women, Malyn traveled from Manila to Malaysia, to Colombo, to Kuwait, and finally to Syria upon the instructions of the recruiter.

The day Malyn arrived in Syria, they were picked up and brought to a recruitment agency owned by a Syrian. Malyn’s employer arrived to pick her up. Malyn would begin work at 8 am, cleaning her employer’s home, doing the laundry, folding the clothes of her employer’s children, and arranging the children’s food. In the evening, she would clean the bathrooms and do other work her employers told her to do. She worked every day with little rest, and no days off and she would only sleep in the living room.

There were many instances where Malyn’s male and female employers would yell at her and slap her face and threaten her. Eight months into working for her employer, Malyn stopped receiving her salary, but she continued to work. She was afraid of complaining because her employers might call the police or they would abandon her somewhere. She was not allowed to use a cell phone or contact her family. Her employers continued to mistreat her, not giving her adequate food to eat.

Malyn decided to escape her abusive employers and fled to the Philippine Embassy where she sought shelter and found other young women like her there. Her employer managed to even file a case against her, accusing Malyn of theft and robbery. Malyn stayed in the Philippine Embassy shelter for more than one year where she and the other victims of human trafficking did not receive the proper support and assistance.

After a campaign led by Migrante, SANDIGAN (Association of Filipino Domestic Helpers from the Middle East) and the Churches Witnessing with Migrants Philippines led a campaign calling on the Philippine Government to provide welfare protection and immediate repatriation for Malyn and more than 50 other Filipino women who have been stranded in the Embassy Shelter for more than a year, Malyn was able to return back to the Philippines on June of 2021.

Since their return home, Malyn and some of the other women victims of human trafficking in Syria are struggling to find livelihood and secure employment. Although Malyn received meager financial assistance from the government, this depleted her very quickly and was insufficient to cover her basic everyday needs. She struggles to access other forms of aid from the government because financial aid is usually only given once to returning migrant workers. Malyn chooses to stay with a family member in Manila instead of returning to Mindanao because of the lack of opportunities there.

Malyn was a minor when she was recruited and trafficked to Syria and she has yet to receive comprehensive health checkups and psychosocial counseling from the government to address the trauma and impact of the abuse she faced while working overseas. Despite what she experienced in Syria, Malyn cannot help but contemplate applying to work again as a domestic helper in another country because it has been difficult for her back home.

Malyn and the other women came together and decided they will file a case with the Interagency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to fight for their rights as victims of human trafficking, to seek justice and hold their traffickers accountable, and to receive protection and assistance they deserve from the government. More importantly, Malyn wants to raise awareness among other young Muslim women and girls like her about the problem of illegal recruitment and human trafficking.

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