Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco lamented that thirrd country recruitment for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) is still prevalent.
According to Tansingco, third country recruitment means legitimate OFWs are recruited to be transported to another country, normally after their visas expire.
The recruitment would mean that the OFW would not return to the Philippines upon expiry of his contract, and would instead directly transfer to a third country.
Tansingco shared the dangers to OFWs of third country recruitment, saying that the Philippine government would not have records of them being transferred to a different country.
He shared the case of five deported passengers from Moscow, Russia who arrived last September 1 on board an Oman Air flight. The deportees, composed of four females and one male, all in their 30s and 40s, shared the difficulties they encountered in Russia.
The male deportee left as a tourist to visit his OFW wife in Russia, but overstayed in the country due to the pandemic. The four others left as OFWs with valid overseas employment certificates.
3rd country recruitment still prevalent – BI
Three of the female victims were OFWs in Hong Kong, and was recruited to transfer to Russia upon expiry of their contracts. The other female victim worked as a nanny in Russia, but remained despite the expiry of her contract.
“While third party recruitment is beyond the scope of the BI, we deem it necessary to share to the public stories we encounter at the airport, as we are the first to hear about this back in the Philippines,” said Tansingco. “OFWs should protect themselves from exploitation by ensuring proper documentation when they work abroad,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco is set to lecture in an anti-trafficking workshop in Taiwan.
The event, dubbed as the ‘2023 International Workshop on Strategies for Combating Human Trafficking Agenda’ is hosted by the National Immigration Agency (NIA) in Taiwan and will be held on September 6.
In the workshop, Tansingco will serve as a keynote speaker as an expert in anti-trafficking measures to discuss human trafficking schemes and its countermeasures.
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