THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday reported that it has intercepted more than 100 undocumented Filipinos workers at the Zamboanga International Seaport (ZIS) bound for Qatar and Dubai.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said a total of 110 female passengers were intercepted in three separate interceptions by BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU).
During interrogation, the Filipino workers confessed that they came from different parts of the country, and were recruited by agencies that they met through Facebook.
Morente said the workers were trying to use Malaysia as a jump-off point to other Middle Eastern countries, where they received job offers to work in the service industry.
“These illegal syndicates are seemingly attempting to look for other exit points to be able to evade strict immigration inspection,” said Morente. “What they have not realized is that we have spread out our personnel, and are maintaining the same level of screening in all ports in the country, to ensure that our kababayan will not be victimized by these unscrupulous individuals,” he added.
Out of the 110 undocumented Filipino workers, 37 were intercepted last February 10, 2020, while attempting to board the MV Antonia 1 bound for Sandakan, Malaysia.
ZIS TCEU Head Usman Sabdani reported that during interview, the 37 gave conflicting statements, while some presented altered passports and supporting documents.
It was later found out that most were bound for Qatar and Dubai, where they were recruited to illegally work without the proper employment documents.
A week after, another batch of 17 female passengers were prevented from boarding also for lack of proper working documents.
They claimed there were traveling to Dubai to work as household service workers, or caregivers.
Last Monday, 56 passengers also bound for Sandakan, Malaysia, were intercepted by immigration personnel and were found to be actually traveling to Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon and Kuwait, where they were recruited to work.
The 110 aspiring overseas workers were turned over to representatives of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for assistance and further investigation.