Thirty undocumented Dubai-bound Filipinos were not allowed by Immigration officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to leave the country on Friday, March 29.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said the workers, 18 women and 12 men, claimed that they would only visit relatives in Dubai but inconsistencies in their reasons for leaving the country made BI officers suspicious, according to a press release Saturday.
BI-TCEU Chief Erwin Ortañez said 29 of the Filipinos would be working as waiters and waitresses in various Dubai hotels, while one was bound for Baghdad to work as a kitchen supervisor.
Only one passenger had valid tourist visas issued by the UAE Ministry of Interior.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said the passengers later admitted they were going to work abroad and that their travel documents were given to them by a handler who met them outside the airport.
Trafficking charges against their recruiters would be filed, according to the Immigration.
