Three trafficking victims recruited via Facebook Intercepted at Clark airport

FREEPORT ZONE, Pampanga—Bureau of Immigration (BI) officers at the Clark International Airport (CIA) in Pampanga stopped from leaving the country three women bound for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) suspected of being human trafficking victims.

Clark International Airport (File Photo)

In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, the BI’s travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) said the passengers were intercepted last Friday as they attempted to board an Emirates flight to Dubai.

The women presented themselves to for primary immigration inspection and allegedly attempted to leave disguised as tourists, but later admitted they were going to workers as domestic household workers in the emirate.

All of them had valid UAE tourist visas and return tickets to make it appear they were merely vacationing to Dubai.

When interviewed, however, the women confessed that they were recruited to work overseas without securing the required overseas work permits from the government.

They added that they received instructions from their handler via Facebook and that they received copies of their visa and return ticket through the Internet.

According to the victims, they did not pay any amount to their agent, but the expenses will be deducted from their salaries.

 “This is a form of debt bondage,” said Morente. “In many cases, victims are charged by their recruiters’ exorbitant amounts which they are unable to immediately pay off, further locking them to their employers despite horrible working conditions,” he added.