Manila Airport Bans 500 Filipinos

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More than 500 Filipinos were barred at Manila’s main airport last year for carrying spurious travel documents, according to an anti-human trafficking body in Manila.

A report issued by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (Iacat) said 521 passengers were stopped, including 316 tourist workers, 175 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) without the proper papers, and 30 minors.

It did not provide a breakdown of how many Filipinos on tourist visas were prevented from boarding flights to the UAE.

But the rights group Migrante-UAE cast doubt on the figures. “The number is too low,” said Nhel Morona, the group’s secretary general. “It can’t be that only 316 tourist workers were stopped at our airports last year.”

In October, Migrante launched a petition calling for the scrapping of a document that has been blamed for much confusion and cost to Filipinos trying to leave their country.

The document, an affidavit of support, is often presented to border officials as proof that someone else is financing the trip. But it does not guarantee that Filipinos on tourist visas will be allowed to depart – making it all but useless, according to Migrante.

Corrupt officials often allege that the documents are fake, and then demand payment before allowing travellers to fly.

Continue reading at The National

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