RP, Australia forge anti-terror agreement

Taking their joint campaign on terrorism a step further, the Philippines and Australia have agreed to work closely in monitoring people traveling between the two countries.

The Bureau of Immigration and the Australian government, through its embassy, signed an agreement last week that they hope will help prevent terrorists and illegal immigrants from entering either country.

Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said the accord that he signed with Australian Ambassador Tony Hely would also help curb human trafficking.

Under the agreement forged last Thursday, Manila and Canberra agreed to bolster their anti-terror campaign by improving bilateral cooperation in monitoring their respective entry and exit points.

"We hope to contribute to regional efforts to facilitate legitimate travel, strengthen border control, and in the process combat human smuggling, human trafficking and international terrorism," Fernandez stressed.

The agreement also calls for the Philippines and Australia to pursue their information sharing and cooperation on matters like passport and visa issuance, border management, immigration law enforcement, intelligence gathering, and control of irregular migration.

Both countries will also work together to improve technical operations and information exchange on fraud detection, forensic document examination techniques, impostor recognition and interviewing techniques and travel document security features.

Citizens of either country apprehended for illegal migration would be immediately deported under the agreement.

Simeon Vallada, chief of the immigration bureau’s anti-fraud division, said the agreement is the latest of several accords with Australia aimed at improving the bureau’s capability to combat terrorism and curb human trafficking. — Edu Punay