BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval (PNA photo by Ferdinand Patinio)
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) is on alert against arrivals from several countries in Asia with cases of human trafficking.
“There are different countries, if I’m not mistaken, it’s Malaysia, Vietnam…I think, there are three or four countries mostly Asian countries that are currently being monitored because of recent issues regarding trafficking of workers that enters the country,” BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said in a media interview Monday.
She said the BI is looking at patterns used by erring foreigners to make sure that the illegal activities will be stopped.
Meanwhile, Sandoval said long queues at immigration counters in the country’s international airports are normal during this season.
“We can see that little by little the number of travelers is increasing while we approach Christmas and New Year and actually, we just attended the Tokyo Immigration Forum and we also discussed this among our peers and other immigration agencies worldwide and the same thing is happening all over the world,” she said.
She, however, said they are ensuring expeditious processing of inbound and outbound passengers and that immigration counters are fully-manned.
She advised those who are leaving the country to work or travel abroad to be at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled flights. (PNA)
