MANILA, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Bureau of Immigration (BI) has tightened the screening of Filipinos traveling to Japan to curb human trafficking.
In a recent memorandum published on Thursday, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Moreno ordered immigration inspectors in exit ports to be extra cautious in clearing Japan-bound Filipinos.
Morente directed the BI personnel to carefully scrutinize the travel documents of departing Filipinos with visas for the intra-company transferee, short-term visitor, student, and engineer specialist in humanities and international services.
The order came in the wake of reports that unscrupulous recruiters were using these visas to circumvent government rules on the documentation and deployment of Filipino workers to Japan.
Morente said the recruiters are using the scheme to make it appear that the purpose of the Filipino travelers is exempt from securing an overseas employment certificate. Using this visa type, the passengers declare that they are traveling and staying in Japan for only a brief period, although their actual intention is to work there.
"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. ■