The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday said it rescued three suspected victims of human trafficking bound for the Middle East. In a statement, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said they were not allowed to proceed with their travel to Lebanon, Syria and United Arab Emirates (UAE) after being assessed as “clear victims of human trafficking.” ‘In all these cases, the victims recounted that they were recruited via social media by illegal recruiters who processed all their travel documents,’ he said. Tansingco said all of the victims initially claimed to be tourist passengers. The suspected victims, however, changed their statements during the secondary inspection. Both the Syria and Lebanon-bound passengers, who pretended to accompany a minor and travel to Malaysia for vacation, respectively, admitted to work as domestic helpers while the UAE-bound traveler was found to have a fave visa for Saudi Arabia. Earlier, the BI vowed to intensify efforts against human trafficking, victimizing not only Filipinos but also other nationalities. The BI particularly warned against the modus operandi wherein illegal recruiters go after job seekers via online advertisements, guised as call center employers. The human trafficking victims will eventually found themselves coerced to work in online scam companies
Source: Philippines News Agency