30 human trafficking victims intercepted daily at airports, seaports -- BI
About 30 human trafficking victims are intercepted daily at the international ports of the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Wednesday, Jan. 24.
“Sa ngayon po sa totoo lang araw-araw pa rin po tayo may nakikita na nabibiktima (Up to now we still see people getting victimized everyday,” BI Spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval said during an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.
Sandoval disclosed that “on the average po siguro mga 30 mga naiinterecept natin na nabibiktima ng human trafficking (we intercept around 30 victims of human trafficking everyday).”
"Many of the victims are still being recruited on social media,” she lamented.
She cited that one of the latest victims revealed to the BI that “siya po ay narecruit via Facebook (the person got recruited via Facebook) through one of the Facebook groups offering work abroad.”
“Given the reopening of the shores of different countries for the past few years. definitiely tumaas ‘yan dahil open na ulit ‘yung iba’t ibang bansa after the pandemic (it rose due to opening of ports after the pandemic),” she said.
But, she said, the BI remains committed in its efforts to bring awareness to the public about the problem.