World
Filipinos in Hong Kong were promised a new life in Poland. It never came
This is the second article in a two-part series about the alleged exploitation of Filipino migrant workers. You can read part one here.
Hong Kong, China – It only took a few minutes of searching online for Divina*, a domestic worker in Hong Kong, to find a recruiter offering the tempting opportunity to work in Poland.
Before long, Divina found herself attending a two-hour orientation session on the 17th floor of a building in the city’s bustling Mong Kok district.
There, she listened as agents listed opportunities in workplaces ranging from hotels to a chicken processing plant and a car parts factory.
“So you would really be convinced that [they] had many contacts in Poland,” she told Al Jazeera.
Divina paid the recruiters 10,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,279) to initiate her application to work in Europe.
But more than 14 months later, Divina is still waiting for her application to be finalised and has all but given up hope of ever reaching Poland.
Divina is one of at least dozens of domestic workers in Hong Kong who feel cheated after paying thousands of dollars in fees for jobs in Poland that haven’t materialised.
Labour advocates in the financial hub say that the victims of an international network of recruiters and agencies have lost at least 600,000 Hong Kong dollars ($76,785) – but that is likely to only be the tip of the iceberg.
Al Jazeera spoke with five Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong and read written statements from 20 others who claim to have been deceived by online recruiters and at least two agencies in Hong Kong that worked with a Poland-based agency.
Many said they were unable to support their families for months after taking out loans to cover the recruitment fees.
Such cases are far from unique in Hong Kong, which has become a “hotbed for illegal recruitment schemes” due to its 340,000-strong population of foreign domestic workers and the growing demand for migrant workers from Asia to Eastern Europe, according to David Bishop, a university professor and co-founder of the migration-focused social enterprise Migrasia.
Bishop said his team has identified a large number of agencies that engage in third-country recruitment strategies prohibited by Philippine labour authorities.
“These agencies target Filipino workers in Asia with the alleged intention of placing them in jobs in Europe,” he told Al Jazeera, adding that recruiters play on the despair of people hoping to find work opportunities.
A few weeks after her application, Divina was informed that a Warsaw-based agency would be solely responsible for handling her application. The partner agency in Hong Kong that she dealt with directly told her it was no longer involved.
Ultimately, the Polish agency claimed it had not received her payment.
Divina, who is legally required to live with her employer in Hong Kong and often works 16-hour shifts without overtime, was at a loss for what to do next.
“I keep praying, I keep begging [to get back] all our hard-earned money,” she said, adding that while she hopes to get a refund, she still dreams of going to Poland.
Recruitment agents have sold Poland to domestic workers as a country that offers higher salaries – sometimes more than double – better working conditions, and the opportunity to live together with their families in Europe.
After the Philippines, Hong Kong was the top source of visa applications by Filipinos hoping to work in Poland from 2021 to November 2023.
Polish authorities in Hong Kong processed 2,980 visas for Filipino workers over the period, according to a spokesman for Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Searching for answers
Maria*, another Filipina migrant worker who applied for a job in Poland with the Mong Kok-based agency, has also been left searching for answers.
“I don’t know where my 10,000 Hong Kong dollars went,” she told Al Jazeera, referring to the first cash instalment she made in May 2022.
Maria said she was told her full application would cost 30,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$3,839) – more than six times the monthly minimum wage of a domestic worker in Hong Kong.
“I thought that because we were using an actual agency in Hong Kong, we would be more protected,” she said.
Maria cannot understand why she remains in the city, while another worker she knows who applied with the same agency at the same time was offered a job and successfully reached the Eastern European country.
In WhatsApp messages seen by Al Jazeera, Maria asked the Hong Kong agency for proof that her money had indeed been sent to Poland, but was told that was “confidential [information] between companies”.
In November 2022, the agency – which currently holds a licence to operate in the city – sent a letter to applicants, claiming that “all the problems” were “from the Poland side”.
When Al Jazeera accompanied Maria on two visits to her agency in Mong Kok last month, the office was closed each time.
A person who answered a number posted on the door questioned why Maria had decided to go there in person, insisting queries be sent over WhatsApp.
Despite repeated efforts, Maria has been unable to meet with anyone from the agency in person.
The Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong had recorded 24 formal complaints against a Poland-based agency, CIS Group Manpower, as of the end of November – 18 of which named Son Employment as its Hong Kong partner.
“Almost all stated they have paid significant amounts [ranging from] 10,000 to 30,000 Hong Kong dollars to the recruiter, only ending up not being able to leave for Poland,” Raly Tejada, who served as Consul General until last month, told Al Jazeera.
The owner of the CIS Group Manpower, Imran Mehmood, said he leads an “honest” agency that follows Polish regulations and denied defrauding or overcharging workers.
Mehmood said his firm was no longer working with Son Employment and claimed that he had been “cheated” by its owner. He did not offer details about their falling out.
A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Labour Department said Son Employment ceased operations on May 31, 2022, and had its licence cancelled soon after.
Kenneth Tang, Son Employment’s former owner, rejected Mehmood’s accusations and claimed he was “a victim” of CIS Group Manpower himself. He also did not elaborate on the souring of their business relationship.
Tang said he reimbursed dozens of Filipino workers who reported problems with their applications for Poland.
“I refunded some money to applicants if they had good reasons – but, of course, maybe 40 percent,” he said, adding that he could not provide full refunds because payments had already been made to the partner agency in Poland.
Tang, who said he now works as an adviser for another employment agency in Hong Kong, declined to disclose how much he charged migrant workers or how many used his services.
He claimed that employment agencies were losing money because “six out of eight” Filipino workers abscond from their job after arriving in Poland, without offering evidence in support of his claim.
Fear of coming forward
Isla Wilson, programme manager at Migrasia, estimated that at least 200 Filipinos, mostly in Hong Kong, have been deceived.
“This is the most extensive recruitment network we have investigated to date,” Wilson told Al Jazeera.
Wilson said her team has assisted more than 30 clients in Hong Kong and the Philippines in submitting claims surpassing 600,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$76,785).
“However, we estimate that the agencies have earned a significantly higher amount from their illegal services, as some victims chose not to file a complaint or still hold out hope for deployment,” she said.
Maria did not make an official complaint due to her reluctance to deal with bureaucracy in her limited free time and because it is illegal under Philippine law to be hired directly from Hong Kong to a third country.
In a 51-page report submitted to authorities in Hong Kong, Poland and the Philippines in April last year, Migrasia said employment agencies prevented applicants from making “truly informed choices” and placed them at “risk of labour exploitation”.
Migrasia said it found several violations of Hong Kong’s Trade Descriptions Ordinance, including false or misleading representations, unfair commercial practices and the collection of exorbitant fees.
A spokesman for Hong Kong’s Labour Department said that, even if the employment is to take place outside the city, agencies must be licensed and can only charge up to 10 percent of the worker’s monthly salary after placement.
He did not clarify if the department had received complaints specifically related to recruitment in Europe.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong Police Force declined to confirm if it was investigating the recruitment network for potential breaches of the law.
Diplomat Tejada said he discussed third-country recruitment in Hong Kong with his Polish counterparts in the city and raised the possibility of a bilateral agreement to address the issue.
“It is our view that the negotiation of a formal bilateral labour agreement is the viable answer to the current issues affecting Filipino workers in Hong Kong being recruited for jobs in Poland,” Tejada said.
Shiella Estrada, vice chairperson of the Progressive Labour Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong, said she was worried about the large loans being taken out by domestic workers applying for jobs in Poland.
Estrada urged the Philippine authorities to raise awareness among domestic workers and called on the Hong Kong government to inspect agencies recruiting for the European country.
“Agents in Hong Kong point fingers at those in Poland. Those in Poland point fingers at those in Hong Kong. We saw this happening before,” Estrada told Al Jazeera.
Wilson, of Migrasia, said agencies and recruiters in both countries that do not follow regulations should face consequences, including the revocation of their licenses in some cases.
Most importantly, Wilson said, anyone who has been victimised should receive compensation “as financial restitution is vital for them to achieve complete justice”.
This article was supported with funding from Journalismfund.eu.
*Names have been changed to protect individuals’ privacy.
And then there were three.
CBS News has terminated “60 Minutes” veteran Scott Pelley after the journalist and executives felt they could not find a way to work together following a heated public argument Monday between Pelley and Nick Bilton, the former tech journalist installed last week by editorial chief Bari Weiss. Pelley is the fourth “60 Minutes” reporter to leave the venerable newsmagazine since February, leaving just a trio — Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim — to handle assignments as the show prepares to get stories ready for its 59th season in the fall.
“Your antipathy to the future of the show has come through loud and clear,” Bilton said in a letter sent to Pelley Tuesday evening and reviewed by Variety. “And I have heard you. I therefore write on behalf of CBS News to inform you that your employment with CBS is terminated effective immediately.”
Pelley could not be reached for immediate comment.
Pelley had lambasted both Bilton and Weiss during a staff meeting Monday, questioning their qualifications to manage a program like “60 Minutes,” which is one of the most respected and most watched news programs in the U.S. And he accused Weiss of “murdering ’60 Minutes.’”
Weiss had indicated last week that she wanted the program “to reach new heights through deep, revelatory journalism that breaks news, exposes wrongdoing, widens public understanding and forces accountability from every institution and every center of power.” Increasingly, however, it is unclear who will be left to accomplish the mission.
CBS News ousted a good chunk of the program’s senior managers last week, including former executive producer Tanya Simon; executive editor Draggan Mihailovich; and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Anderson Cooper, who has contributed to the show for nearly 20 years, announced his exit in February.
In a memo to staff issued Tuesday evening, Bilton tried to assuage staffers. “I know how much Scott meant to you, and I don’t say this lightly. I made repeated attempts to have direct conversations with him over the weekend, and this afternoon I tried to find common ground. That was not the path Scott chose.”
Bilton said he would offer “unyielding support for each of you, the journalism that you do and what we will do together going forward.”
For many, Pelley was in recent years the heart of the newsmagazine. He had turned in segments on breaking political news as well as an emotional profile on former Senator Ben Sasse and a feature on underworld caverns in Vietnam. In 2021, Pelley presented a deeply reported three-part feature on the firefighters who tried to rescue people in the burning World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, culled from tapes of conversations made available by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Indeed, Pelley has won half of all major awards earned by “60 Minutes” during his tenure, which began in 2004.
“I would not want to run ’60 Minutes’ without Scott. He mastered the art of telling a story on ’60 Minutes’ as well as any of the greats that came before him,” says Jeff Fager, who was the second executive producer of “60 Minutes” and a former chairman of CBS News, in a message sent via text. “He is a major talent and his departure is a huge blow to the program.”
Pelley has been known to viewers in other capacities. Pelley anchored “CBS Evening News” between 2011 and 2017. He joined CBS News in 1989, and started his career in journalism as a copy boy at the Lubbock Avalanche Journal in Texas, near his hometown of San Antonio.
“Journalism has nothing whatever to do with popularity. If we all do our jobs right, we’re probably not going to be very popular with a large segment of our audience. Hopefully, that changes day to day and everybody hears something they like eventually,” Pelley told Variety in 2017. “But, journalism has nothing to do with popularity and so therefore, criticism doesn’t bother me too much.”
Whether Bilton will be able to make longtime “60 Minutes” viewers forget about Pelley this fall remains to be seen.
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Amid President Donald Trump’s Monday announcement that a deal with Iran’s clerical regime is imminent to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and negotiate an end to Tehran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, Iranians who hoped U.S. pressure would force a decisive outcome now fear it may survive while ordinary people absorb the costs.
“Inside Iran, the mood has shifted from early-war optimism to a kind of exhausted resignation, but there is still some hope that this is the moment President Trump will use his leverage to do the right thing. The Iranian people understand this unusually narrow but strategic window,” Lisa Daftari, editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk who keeps in contact with Iranians on the ground, told Fox News Digital.
She continued that ,”The regime is fiscally strained and politically brittle, while the broader population has been disillusioned by years of repression and economic collapse. Iranians do see this as a one‑time opportunity for Washington — and President Trump in particular — to translate military and economic leverage into the potential collapse of an irrefromable regime. If the outcome is a shallow agreement that props up the system without changing its trajectory, that window will likely close for years.”
TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP CREATES ‘RARE OPPORTUNITY’ FOR CHANGE IN IRAN, FORMER IRANIAN POLITICAL PRISONER SAYS
An Iranian flag is placed amid rubble next to a destroyed residential building near Ferdowsi Square in Tehran on March 3, 2026. (ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)
She continued, “If instead, the U.S. holds firm on sanctions and nuclear red lines, it can weaken the regime’s hand without punishing the Iranian people, who have already paid the highest price.”
Daftari, the Iran expert, shared recent correspondence from two Iranians from Tabriz and Tehran.
The resident from Tabriz said, “From my perspective, decades of political tension between Iran and the United States have had their greatest impact on ordinary people rather than those in power. Many families feel their voices are not being heard in international discussions about Iran.” Adding, “I respectfully ask whether you might consider sharing or highlighting the human side of this situation, so that the experiences of ordinary Iranian families are not overlooked in political discussions and media coverage.”
The Tehran resident said, “Today, the people of Iran believe in the future. On days when economic pressure makes the faces of the Iranian people sad, the word ‘unity’ brings a smile to their lips. Our situation is not good, but we are motivated.”
Fox News Digital surveyed a few Iranians and agreed to use only their first names because the clerical regime has declared the use of Starlink to bypass the censor a criminal act. A sophisticated clandestine network has managed to smuggle some satellite internet technology into Iran to allow people to communicate with the world outside the Islamist state.
Two armed members of Iran’s police special forces stand behind a country flag placed on an armored military vehicle during a pro-Government rally in downtown Tehran, Iran. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Hassan, who lives in Tehran, pleaded with President Trump to keep strong in his dealings with the regime, saying that “Things have gotten so bad that even if you wanted to give up and leave Iran and just focus on your own life and work, it feels like there’s nowhere left to turn. Mr. Trump, through these deals and arrangements, has left people feeling trapped, with no road left open.”
Mehdi, who resides in Tehran, expressed confusion about the existence of an agreement. He said, “So what exactly are they agreeing on? Are they saying they’re close to a deal or are there other discussions too? Every minute there is a new piece of news, everyone has a new analysis, everything changes every minute. It’s strange. This war achieved nothing. We’re the only ones left paying the price,” he complained.
THE WAR HITS HOME: WHY FINANCIAL PAIN AND ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY THREATEN TRUMP’S DRIVE TO TOPPLE IRAN’S REGIME
Hassan from Tehran said that “Mr. Trump, if until yesterday most Iranians thought they were on the same path as America, you caused them all to become disappointed. “Mr. Trump, if you wanted this government to remain in power, why did you blow up factories? Now workers are being laid off, and inflation is out of control. Even with a salary of 18 million tomans, you cannot feed yourself.”
Mahsa, from the Caspian Sea city of Rasht, told Fox News Digital that the system [Islamic Republic of Iran] is still fully intact. They don’t care how many people died. If anything, they seem more emboldened now and even take pride in martyrdom. Yesterday I argued with a regime supporter [who] said: “Our leader didn’t give away a single meter of land, didn’t take a step backward, unlike previous kings who gave away Bahrain, Baku, Nakhchivan, and others.”
Protesters block a street as a crowd gathers during a demonstration in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026. (Mahsa/Middle East Images/AFP)
The concerns among many Iranians revolve around the proposed memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran’s regime. The MOU does not address the overthrow of the clerical regime or human rights violations, according to media reports. Large numbers of Iranians within Iran and among the Iranian diaspora want the Trump administration to topple the Islamist dictatorship in Tehran.
The MOU reportedly involves a 60-day ceasefire extension. Israel and the U.S. launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28. The MOU would also see the reopening the Strait of Hormuz and new talks over Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program.
The leaked elements of the MOU have not been confirmed by the Trump administration.
When asked about the concern among Iranians about a deal with the Islamic Republic, Anna Kelly, a spokeswoman for the White House, told Fox News Digital that “For 47 years, American Presidents and countless other world leaders talked about the threat posed by Iran, but no one had the courage to address it. President Trump took decisive action to ensure that Iran could never harm our homeland, our troops, or our allies again. Once Iran’s nuclear threat is removed for good, the entire region and its people will be safer and more stable.”
IRAN REGIME ESCALATES REPRESSION TOWARD ‘NORTH KOREA-STYLE MODEL OF ISOLATION AND CONTROL’
Protesters march in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency/AP)
However, Trump said last week during his cabinet meeting, “We didn’t set out for regime change,” adding, “But by the fact that we’re dealing with a totally different group of people than we were at the beginning … This is regime change.”
Reza Farnood, an Iranian American who supports the Trump administration and is a researcher, writer and activist, urged that President Trump continue with his maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
Farnood told Fox News Digital, “We welcome the bombing and attacking the regime because we are aiming to overthrow the regime.” He urged that Trump continue the blockade of Iran’s vessels and deny money to the regime. He said sanctions relief will be used by Iran “against the U.S. and Israel and their allies and innocent Iranians.”
Farnood stressed that the clerical regime is holding the Iranian people “hostage.”
Kianoosh, who lives in the northern city of Karaj, the capital of Alborz province, said about Trump’s proposed deal: “You threw six months of our lives into hell. What answer are “you going to give to the mothers of all those children who were killed? Why did you give people false hope? Why did you hand down a death sentence to everything so many people believed in?”
Leading U.S. Senators well-versed in foreign policy have praised Trump’s approach to the Islamic Republic. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC., recently told Fox News’ Sean Hannity “On Trump’s watch, they’re [Iran’s regime] becoming poorer and weaker. That’s the difference.”
TRUMP’S ‘ECONOMIC FURY’ SQUEEZES IRAN — BUT CAN TEHRAN OUTLAST THE PRESSURE?
Graham juxtaposed Trump’s Iran policy with his predecessors. “Obama and Biden screwed Iran up, and Donald Trump is fixing it. On Obama and Biden’s watch, Iran became rich and lethal,” he said. “On Trump’s watch, they’re becoming poorer and weaker. That’s the difference.”
Iran is running dangerously low on oil storage capacity and could face a severe economic breaking point if forced to halt production, former U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette recently told Fox News.
Trump has said that Iran’s regime murdered as many as 45,000 Iranian demonstrators in January 2026. He urged just days after the mass murder that protesters keep going and promised them that “help is on its way.”
Lawdan Bazargan, a prominent Iranian-American activist who the regime imprisoned in its infamous Evin Prison in Tehran in the 1980s for political dissent, told Fox News Digital that the Iranians she’s spoken with are discouraged by Trump’s dealings. “He was one of the few world leaders who repeatedly spoke about the thousands of Iranians killed in January 2026 and expressed disgust at the sheer brutality of the Islamic Republic. He had promised support for the Iranian people and raised expectations that meaningful change might finally come.”
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
She continued: “Now, 88 days later, many people feel they are left facing the same regime, one that appears more emboldened, more ideological, and still willing to repress, execute, and arrest people. The economy has been devastated, and many feel trapped between a government with no mercy and a future with no clear path forward.
For years, 90 million Iranians have lived as hostages of the Islamic Republic. Now, many fear that the consequences no longer stop at Iran’s borders, through threats to global energy routes, regional stability, and even digital infrastructure.”
According to Bazargan, “The question many ordinary Iranians are asking is simple: How are people expected to fight a system that feels victorious, controls the weapons, controls the narrative through a massive propaganda machine, and possesses countless tools of repression?”
A billboard in Tehran displays Iran’s supreme leaders since 1979: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was appointed supreme leader on March 9, 2026. (AFP/Via Getty Images)
Ali, who is also from the sprawling capital city of Tehran, complained about the spiraling prices and inflation and disappointment that the regime is still in place.
“For a government with state-provided housing and billions in patronage and privileges, what difference did any of this make for its supporters?”
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Ali added: “We’re the ones who are paying the price and getting crushed. How are our children ever supposed to afford these housing and car prices, and how are they supposed to get married?”
The U.S. State Department referred Fox News Digital to the White House for a comment.
Mexico and Canada have backed extending the USMCA trade agreement for another 16 years as negotiations over its future continue. The proposal comes amid an ongoing trade dispute with the United States.
Published On 3 Jun 2026
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