2 GCC-bound Filipino travellers caught with fake stamps on passports; rescued from traffickers

Two Filipinas, who were supposed to board a flight to Dubai, were barred from travelling after immigration officials spotted fake stamps on their passports, the Philippine government reported on Saturday.

The women were "disguised as tourists but later admitted that they were flying to work as household service workers", according to the state-run news agency.

It turned out that it was a potential case of human trafficking, the authorities said.

Commissioner Norman Tansingco said the travellers met the traffickers at a restaurant and were handed "already-stamped passports and boarding passes", which they could use supposedly for immigration clearance.

“The victims were directed to wait for escorts, but when they got there, nobody arrived and they could no longer contact those who handed them their passports," the Bureau of Immigration (BI) chief said in a statement.

The women said they learnt about the job opening from "recruiters" they met only through Facebook.

Tansingco warned the public against such illegal recruitment scams online. "The pandemic has brought challenges to many of our kababayan (countrymen). The sound of greener pastures abroad has become promising. But we remind the public to be wary of the dangers of trusting strangers online," he said.

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