CLOSE to 12,000 Filipino travelers were prevented from leaving the country last year as part of the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) campaign against human trafficking and illegal recruitment.
However, the figure was 70 percent lower compared to 2019 where 38,522 travelers were barred from boarding their flights.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said 9,411 out of 11,706 passengers were stopped at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).
“Travel restrictions and international flight suspensions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic naturally caused a tremendous drop in the number of Filipinos who traveled abroad in 2020,” Morente said, noting that the ban on travel due to the pandemic was only lifted in October.
Morente said the numbers would indicate that even a pandemic would not discourage human traffickers and illegal recruiters from continuing their illegal activities.
“Thanks to our vigilant immigration officers at the ports, many of these suspected human trafficking victims were intercepted and rescued before they could leave,” Morente added.
BI intelligence chief Fortunato Manahan Jr., who supervises the BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU), also reported that 295 passengers were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) as possible trafficking victims.
Manahan said the most common reasons for preventing a passenger from leaving are failure to present required documents, carrying fraudulent documents, and misrepresentation.
Morente also reminded aspiring overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) not to fall prey to illegal recruiters and human traffickers when travel returns to normal.
“These illegal recruiters will sweet talk their victims and take advantage of the hardships that some of our kababayan face to make them agree to below-standard arrangements,” he explained.
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