Immigration bureau: New trafficking scheme uses pilgrimage as cover
MANILA, Philippines — A new trafficking scheme targeting Filipinos who want to work abroad as household workers has them trying to leave the country by claiming to be religious pilgrims.
This is the new scheme that the Bureau of Immigration uncovered after officers of their travel control and enforcement unit intercepted two women trying to fly out to Doha in Qatar.
In a statement on Monday, BI said the two trafficking victims, aged 36 and 37 years old, claimed to be Muslim pilgrims. They said they planned to travel by bus to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in Umrah — a non-obligatory but important pilgrimage for Muslims.
They had also said that they recently converted to Islam and they planned to stay in Saudi for seven days.
"However, the officers noted numerous inconsistencies in their statements," BI said.
The two later on admitted that their documents were fabricated and that a woman recruited them, via Facebook, and processed their visas and tickets. The victims said they were instructed to pose as Muslims to depart the country.
The two have since been turned over to the Inter-Agency Council against Trafficking for further investigation and to initiate cases against their recruiter.
Trafficking schemes on the rise
In March, the immigration bureau said it had noted an increase in n the number of young professionals – even "those with good travel records, gainfully employed and are graduates of good schools
" — being deceived by cryptocurrency scams abroad that advertise false promises of high salaries.
BI officers have since resorted to conducting lengthy interviews to screen passengers.
Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco last week said that eliminating human trafficking and illegal recruitment will require a concerted effort from all government agencies.
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