The Commission on Human Rights lauds the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and BI-NAIA 3 travel control and enforcement unit (TCEU) for successfully preventing a human trafficking attempt at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

On Sunday, 10 November 2019 the Bureau of Immigration reported the foiled attempted trafficking of 4 women illegally recruited to work abroad. With the coordination of BI NAIA-3 TCEU, the Bureau of Immigration was able to ascertain that the documents of the victims were indeed fraudulent–thus barring them from flying to Malaysia where they intended to proceed to Dubai to work.

While the Commission commends the efforts of the Bureau of Immigration for ensuring the safety of the victims, it is alarmed by the numbers of victims of human trafficking and modern-day slavery in the Philippines. In the latest Global Slavery Index report published in 2018, the Philippines ranked 12th, among countries with the highest incidence of modern-day slavery in the entire Asia Pacific, with an estimated 780,000 of its population being subject to situations of exploitation that include human trafficking, forced labor, debt bondage, forced or servile marriage, and sale or exploitation of children among other things.

Modern-day slavery in our contemporary period should not exist! Human trafficking violates the most basic human right to life, liberty and security. The Commission, thus, urges vigilance against illegal recruiters and calls upon individuals seeking to work overseas, to go through the proper process of acquiring proper documents through legitimate channels.