MANILA, Philippines – Agents of the Bureau of Immigration intercepted Friday morning at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) 18 women and 12 men who are believed to be victims of human trafficking .
Those intercepted were Dubai-bound and were about to board an Emirates Airlines flight when they were stopped, Immigration Port Operations Division chief Grifton Medina said on Saturday.
“All of them initially claimed they were going to visit a friend or relative in Dubai for vacation and presented as proof their tourist visas and return tickets,” Medina said in a statement.
“But inconsistencies in their statements prompted the immigration officers to doubt their purpose, so they were referred to the TCEU (Travel Control and Enforcement Unit) for secondary inspection,” he added.
During questioning by the TCEU, those intercepted admitted that they were going to work abroad and only managed to receive their travel documents that day from their handler who met them outside the airport.
TCEU Chief Erwin Ortañez added that the men and women who were intercepted all have valid tourist visas issued by the United Arab Emirates’ Interior Ministry except for one.
Ortañez added that 29 of them stated that they were hired to work as waiters and waitresses in various Dubai hotels while one of them said his final destination is Baghdad, Iraq where he was recruited as a kitchen supervisor.
According to the BI, the 30 intercepted human trafficking victims are now with the National Bureau of Investigation who will be assisting them in the filing of complaints against their recruiters. /muf