BI rescues two trafficking victims at CIA
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Saturday intercepted two trafficking victims recruited to work as “entertainers” in Singapore.
The BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) reported to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco that the two victims attempted to depart as “tourists” via a Scoot Airlines flight at the Clark International Airport (CIA) last May 27.
The victims, both female, were aged 34 and 25.
In the report, the duo denied knowing each other, and each claimed to be traveling alone for a vacation.
However, upon verification, they were both found to have active work permits in Singapore as entertainers.
They eventually admitted that they applied for work online and were instructed to pose as tourists to conceal their actual purpose of travel.
They each paid P30,000 and P15,000 for the processing of their documents.
“In many cases, these victims are made to believe that they will be working as entertainers, but many end up forced to work in (the) sex trade,” said Tansingco.
“This is a clear case of human trafficking, wherein the victims are instructed to pretend to be tourists,” he added.
Both victims were turned over to the CIA Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for filing cases against their recruiters.
