(Eagle News)–The Bureau of Immigration has said it has intensified its screening of Filipinos bound for Japan, following what it said were reports of recent strategies being used by unscrupulous recruiters to deploy victims illegally.
According to the bureau, Immigration Chief Jaime Morente has specifically directed immigration inspectors in ports of exit to exercise extra caution in clearing Filipinos holding visas for intracompany transferees, short-term visitors, students, and for engineer specialists in humanities and international services.
According to Morente, these visas were being used for illegal deployment to Japan, with holders typically exempt from securing an overseas employment certificate.
“This emerging trend exposes these travelers to the dangers of trafficking in persons and illegal recruitment, which the BI is mandated to prevent,” Morente said.
Carlos Capulong, the bureau’s port operations chief, said he has already directed all inspectors to comply with the directive .
“We have instructed them that if the declared purpose of travel of a passenger is doubtful, the latter should be referred to for secondary inspection to our travel control and enforcement unit,” he said.