BI bars entry of over 1,500 ‘undesirable aliens’ since January

More than 1,500 foreigners considered “undesirable aliens” were barred from entering the country in the early months of 2018, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) disclosed on Wednesday.

BI commissioner Jaime Morente said about 1,521 foreigners have been denied entry by immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) as well as other ports across the country from January to April.

Morente, however, admitted the figure was “slightly lower than the 1,700 who were turned away in the same period last year.”

According to acting BI ports chief Marc Red Mariñas, those who were barred were included in the blacklist of foreigners considered to be “fugitives, suspected terrorists, and convicted sex offenders.”

Other foreigners who were denied entry were also considered “public charges,” or those who “lack of capacity to support his stay in the country, thus making him an added burden to society.”

“We also turned away foreign passengers who did not have entry visas and those who failed to procure outbound tickets, which are a basic requirement for foreign tourists,” Mariñas said in a statement.

Morente attributed the efforts to the “continued vigilance of immigration officers manning our ports of entry.”

The BI chief also associated it with the assistance of Chinese-speaking interpreters who “helped remove the language barrier that in the past posed a problem to BI personnel when interviewing passengers.”

According to the BI data, Chinese nationals topped the list of foreigners who were barred entry with 583, followed by 123 Indians, 103 Koreans, 72 Americans, and 36 Nigerians.

“While the bulk of the aliens were intercepted at the NAIA, there were also others who were turned away in the airports of Mactan, Clark, Kalibo, Iloilo, and Davao,” Morente said.    /kga