Group asks Bureau of Immigration to follow IACAT offloading policy

MANILA, Philippines - Militant group Migrante-Middle East appealed to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) Saturday to follow the new “offloading guidelines” issued by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said they issued the statement after they received reports from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of alleged arbitrary offloading of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their relatives who are going out of the Philippines using a visit visa and presented to BI officials an authenticated Affidavit of Support (AoS).

BI personnel reportedly extorted money from them before allowing them to board the plane bound for the UAE.

Monterona also said that apart from the normal procedure for OFWs and their relatives to undergo primary inspection - where their visa, passport and tickets are checked – under the IACAT guidelines they should now be subjected to a second round of inspection, which is supposed to be a safeguard against human trafficking.

“So, the new guidelines now vested immigration officials to further conduct inspection involving passengers whom they thought are vulnerable to human trafficking noting into account the age, educational attainment, and financial capability to travel of the passengers,” Monterona added.

He said he hopes BI personnel know how to differentiate tourist workers from those who are directly hired by their employers.

“We are for an effective policy or mechanism that would combat illegal recruitment and human trafficking, but this must not be at the expense of our fellow workers’ curtailment of their right to travel and earn a living abroad. Thus, we are calling BI officials to seriously and honestly implement the new immigration guidelines,” Monterona said.