Bureau of Immigration (BI) inspectors at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have stopped from leaving the country three more suspected human trafficking, including two women bound for Lebanon and Syria.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the passengers were intercepted at NAIA’s terminals 1 and 3 last June 9 and 10 as they were about to board their outbound flights to the Middle East.
Tansingco said members of the BI’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) decided to offload the passengers from their flights after they admitted the real purpose of the travel during secondary inspection.
“They all initially alleged they were traveling as tourists and one of them even pretended to a nanny for the 16-year-old boy who is her supposed companion in her trip,” the BI chief added.
The fake nanny later confessed that she is not a tourist but would be traveling to Syria to work as a domestic helper.
Another passenger claimed she was vacationing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia but later admitted she was going to Lebanon where she had previously worked as a household help.
The third passenger presented a fake Saudi Arabian visa but eventually surrendered her United Arab Emirates (UAE) visa and said she was going to Dubai to work as a maid.
“In all these cases, the victims recounted that they were recruited via the social media by illegal recruiters who processed all their travel documents,” Tansingco said. “It is clear that they are all victims of human trafficking, thus we could not allow them to leave.
3 more trafficking victims stopped at NAIA – BI
The three victims were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for investigation.
Meanwhile, BI, in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), has again raised concerns about human trafficking.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansinco has long been vocal about the urgent need for cooperation to combat this grave issue.
“This problem is both severe and complex,” said Tansingco. “Hence there is a need for collaborative efforts between law enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations, intelligence units, and the private sector,” he added.
The efforts align with the recent notice issued by INTERPOL, highlighting the escalating threat posed by large-scale human trafficking, where victims are duped into committing crimes within pseudo-call centers.
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