BI foils try to escort trafficking victims

BUREAU of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco urged Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) authorities to investigate the airport employee who was caught escorting three human trafficking victims.

Tansingco said on Wednesday that the case has been referred to the NAIA Anti-Trafficking Task Force and to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (Iacat) for further investigation and filing of appropriate charges against the recruiters.

The BI chief declined to name the erring airport employee as the case was already referred to the proper investigating bodies, adding that the incident should serve as a warning to airport personnel not to connive with illegal recruiters.

The incident happened at the NAIA Terminal 3 last December 22 while the trafficking victims were attempting to depart for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, through Thailand.

The airport employee was seen escorting the victims to the immigration counters.

«Immigration supervisors promptly intervened, signaling that such actions were unauthorized and against protocol,» Tansingco said.

He said that airport immigration areas are strictly off-limits to unauthorized personnel, especially those providing VIP treatment to trafficking victims.

The three victims initially posed as friends from General Santos City on vacation, but it was discovered during secondary inspection that they did not know each other's names and lacked return tickets to General Santos.

Last April, BI officers also caught an airline employee facilitating the departure of a human trafficking victim who attempted to leave with a fake immigration departure stamp on her passport.

The woman admitted during questioning that she was escorted by an airline employee in queuing at the immigration departure counter.

Last year, NAIA security guards caught several passengers attempting to leave without immigration inspection by wearing fake NAIA passes in going to the airport's boarding gate, which also led to the investigation of an airline employee who allegedly tried to facilitate the departure of the victim.