Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have intercepted a Filipina who presented a “fake” Belgian passport and was suspected to be a human trafficking victim.
In a press statement, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) identified the intercepted Filipina as a certain Josephine (surname not provided) who was to depart for Ercan, Cyprus last Sept. 5.
BI said that Josephine initially presented her Belgian passport and told immigration officers she was transiting from Kuwait to Izmar, Turkey.
During the departure formalities, the immigration officers noted numerous inconsistencies on her passport and supposed arrival stamps, it said.
The incident was referred to the duty supervisor who submitted the documents for forensic examination.
The laboratory examinations showed that Josephine’s passport, residence card, and immigration stamps were all counterfeit, the BI said.
Later, the BI also said that Josephine admitted that she has a Philippine passport and used to be an overseas Filipino worker in Israel. It said she also admitted she was deported from Israel earlier this year for working without a valid visa, but came across a Tiktok video offering European Union passports to travel visa-free to multiple countries.
It said she confessed that she paid P700,000 for her fake documents and was promised employment in Greece as a caregiver, with an offer of P180,000 salary per month.
BI said that Josephine was immediately turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance and filing of appropriate charges against her recruiter.