Airport authorities rescued eight more victims of human trafficking syndicates in Manila and Cebu.
First to be rescued by Immigration agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were five women going to Dubai while three other female passengers were intercepted at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the five female passengers intercepted at NAIA last Feb. 13 and 16 were all bound for Bangkok.
She added that the women were illegally recruited to work as household service workers in Dubai.
“They claimed that they were traveling to Thailand as tourists but later admitted that their purpose in going abroad was to work,” said Sandoval.
“They hid their visas and connecting flights from immigration authorities.”
Sandoval said the human trafficking attempts were foiled at the height of implementation of the travel ban on passengers from China, Hong Kong and Macau due to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak.
In Cebu City, three women were stopped from leaving last Feb. 10 while they were about to board their flight to Japan.
Sandoval said the passengers presented spurious documents purportedly showing that they are gainfully employed in the country. Joel Zurbano
“They claimed that they be vacationing in Japan and that their trip was sponsored by their employer,” she said. “A confirmation with their documents, whoever, revealed discrepancies.”
The women were subjected to verifications and later confessed that their documents were merely given to them by their handler.