20 suspected victims of human trafficking stopped at NAIA

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have stopped 20 suspected trafficking victims from flying to Africa with fake travel papers.

In a report to BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, BI Associate Commissioner and Port Operations Division Chief Marc Red Mariñas said that the victims were disallowed from leaving via NAIA Terminal 3 last June 8 as they were about to board an Emirates Airways flight to Dubai.

Mariñas said the victims initially claimed that they were sent by a Malaysia-based company to Sao Tome and Principe, a small island nation off the western coast of Central Africa.

Immigration Officers doubted their purpose of travel when they noticed that the invitation presented was dubious and the victims could not provide details about their purpose of travel.

It was later discovered that they were traveling to Sao Tome to work without proper documentation.

The incident prompted Morente to reiterate previous warnings to aspiring OFWs against leaving the country without the necessary work permits from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

“As undocumented workers you risk being exposed to possible abuse and exploitation in foreign lands, access to assistance and protection extended by the government,” Morente said.

“We will not allow this to happen to our kababayan, as it is the duty of the bureau as part of the InterAgency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) to protect our OFWs from exploitation,” he added.