by Ratziel San Juan (Philstar.com), 22 Oct 2019
MANILA, Philippines — Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente warned Philippine airport personnel against “passengers disguised as tourists who were illegally recruited to work overseas.”
A total of 17 women suspected to be victims of human trafficking were intercepted at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport between Wednesday and Thursday last week, the agency said in a release Tuesday. They were illegally hired to work as domestic workers in the Middle East, according to the Immigration.
The women were turned over to the MCIA Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance and investigation.
Immigration Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the passengers were stopped before they could board their flights to Hong Kong and Macau en route to their final destinations in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
“It appears that these victims were recruited by a syndicate which separately booked them on several flights in order to mislead our immigration officers on the purpose of their trip,” Medina said in a statement.
“And that is to work abroad without documentation.”
He also said trafficking syndicates are attempting to shift their operations to other exit ports in response to Immigration efforts.
BI-MCIA Travel Control and Enforcement unit head Ma. Asuncion Palma-Gil said 13 of the women were hired to work in Dubai and the other four in Qatar. They were offloaded from five different flights.
“They all admitted having UAE and Qatari visas in their possession and that they were recruited by individuals they only met via Facebook or through people they know currently working in Dubai and Doha,” Palma-Gil said.
She also said the passengers did not know their travel itinerary and would depend on instructions from their alleged handlers upon arrival in Hong Kong and Macau.
“This is a clear case of human trafficking wherein victims who are jobless and have no visible means of support are sent abroad and put in harm’s way to satisfy the cravings for the profit of unscrupulous recruiters.”
An estimated 6,300 left the Philippines daily to find work abroad in 2018, according to Migrante International, which monitors overseas Filipino workers. The figure is more than double the 2009 estimate of 2,500 Filipinos exiting the country for work abroad.
March –
IT’S WOMEN’S MONTH!
“Respect and support women
every day of the year/s!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the recommendations of the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry
against serious violations of protocols of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association.
Accept the National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands
#Report Corruption #SearchPosts #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week;
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and “
Made-in-the-Philippines Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
March 4: Employee Appreciation Day
March 15: World Consumer Rights Day
March 18: Global Recycling Day
March 21: International Day for the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination
March 23: International Day for the Right to the Truth
Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations
and for the Dignity of Victims
March 25: International Day of Remembrance of the
Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
March 27: Earth Hour
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