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BI probes trafficking of Filipino women to Myanmar

Philippines | National

BI probes trafficking of Filipino women to Myanmar

By Jun Ramirez

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is now conducting a thorough investigation into the possible involvement of its personnel in the trafficking of Filipino women to Myanmar.

BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco ordered the probe after Sen. Risa Hontiveros presented one of the alleged 12 victims in her privilege speech.

Tansingco said the bureau is now coordinating with the office of Hontiveros to seek more information about the incident.

During the Senate hearing, the victim said they were recruited through an advertisement on Facebook about call center jobs in Thailand.

She claimed they were forcibly brought to the adjacent country Myanmar to work in an online scam operations attracting Americans and other Westerners to invest in fake cryptocurrency accounts.

Tansingco vowed to punish any BI personnel who would be found involved in the incident.

Last year, the BI foiled the attempt of illegal recruiters to send some 4,000 of their victims abroad, mostly to Middle East countries and suspended the trip of almost 14,000 others for improper travel documentation

Tansingco said illegal recruiters are modifying their modus operandi everytime the bureau adopts stringent measures against the deployment of undocumented overseas workers.

He said the BI is coordinating with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking to end the seemingly endless menace.

Tansingco advised prospective overseas workers to ignore online job offers and transact only with the DMW.

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