BI assures thorough probe on 'airport employee who escorted 2 trafficking victims'
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) assured a thorough investigation on the case of an alleged airport employee who reportedly escorted two Filipino trafficking victims last Dec. 22 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
BI, through its Spokesperson Dana Sandoval, said the NBI has been asked to identify the airport employee so his or her cohorts could also be identified.
Sandoval said that the NBI is part of the Inter-Agency Council Against Human Trafficking (IACAT) which started its own probe on the incident.
Two Filipinos were intercepted at NAIA last Dec. 22 before they could board their flight to Thailand for an alleged vacation.
Sandoval said the two Filipinos were found escorted by “isang indibidwal na may pass po papasok ng airport (a person who has a pass into the airport).”
“They initially pretended po na sila ay pupunta lamang ng (they are going to) Thailand for a vacation ngayong Kapaskuhan (this Christmas season)," she said.
“But napag-alaman po natin na sila po ay illegally recruited, biniktima po ng kawatan na ito upang magtrabaho po sa United Arab Emirates ng walang kaukulang papeles (But we learned that they were illegally recruited to work in the United Arab Emirates without the required documents),” she added.
She pointed out that the "airport employee escort" cannot cannot claim to have no liability for escorting the two human trafficking victims.
“Maari po siyang humarap sa mga sanctions as determined po by the IACAT (The person may face sanctions as determined by the IACAT),” she said.
“Nakikita natin sindikato ito na nagrerecruit usually on social media and they are offering many services including the transportation po nitong mga biktimang ito (We see that a syndicate is involved in the recruitment, usually through social media, and they are offering many services including the the transportation of the victims),” Sandoval also said.