BID logs rise of India, Pakistan nationals seeking haven in RP

Fears of an imminent war between India and Pakistan have sent their nationals fleeing their homelands for a safer haven in the Philippines as borne by the number of arrests of undocumented and overstaying nationals from the two countries.

Immigration authorities at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have noted a sudden influx of arrival of nationals from India and Pakistan, who enter the country on tourist visas with the common intention of living permanently in the Philippines. These nationals according to immigration authorities, take the chances of being discovered as illegal aliens for continuing to stay in the country after the expiration of their 21-day tourist visas, rather than return to their homelands and face the prospects of war.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo said that the Indians and Pakistanis, who have been arrested for the past few months, were mostly overstaying, and were found staying with relatives in far-flung areas to avoid being detected by the bureau.

Domingo said that the Indians and Pakistanis arrived in the country with proper visas, after which they "disappear" and stay as illegal aliens in the country. She also said that she does not know the exact number of illegal Indians and Pakistanis in the Philippines, but "it appears from the number of arrests we can deduce that there are many of them."

The immigration chief said that she has ordered a crackdown on illegal aliens since she assumed the position of commissioner following reports that the number of undocumented aliens in the country has increased alarmingly. "And most of the overstaying aliens we have arrested were Indians and Pakistanis," she added. She cited the arrest over the weekend of eight Indian nationals who were rounded up in a series of operations conducted in Palawan by a team of immigration and military operatives.

Domingo said that all the eight Indians were found to be overstaying and undocumented, while one, although with complete papers was also included in the roundup because of harboring the illegal aliens.

Some of those arrested claimed that they do not want to return to their country of origin because of the instability in their country brought about by the prospect of war between India and Pakistan over the issue of Kashmir.