In a recent statement, Consul General Maria Lumen Isleta said: "'Most of the
human trafficking victims who run to the embassy for help hold dummy return
tickets and ask for our assistance to be repatriated back to the Philippines."
Following a report earlier this week showed that a growing number of young
Filipino women were being trafficked to Singapore for sexual exploitation. That
report cited the cases of two women who were drawn in by the adventure of work
abroad on the false promise of a high-paying decent job.
The increased incidence of trafficking of Asian women, including Filipinas, to
Singapore has prompted the United States State Department to downgrade the
city-state's rating from Tier 1 in 2006 to Tier 2 this year.
The embassy, in a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs, said the
Singapore government was already cracking down on trafficking syndicates
victimizing women.
Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Belen Fule-Anota said that in the past
couple of months, Singapore authorities have arrested and jailed foreigners who
knowingly presented fake return airline tickets to immigration authorities. She
said that among them were 12 Filipinos, who were each given jail terms ranging
from three to 10 months.
Anota said those arrested included several job seekers, pub girls who tried to
extend their stay in Singapore, and even a Filipino information technology
professional.
Isleta, who heads the embassy's consular section, observed: "Most of the women
who were arrested by Singapore authorities for holding fake e-tickets were
irregular hospitality workers who came to Singapore to work in pubs without any
work permit. Most were caught while trying to re-enter Singapore at the border
with Malaysia after their Singapore visas expired."
To entice prospective victims, Isleta said human traffickers and illegal
recruiters would usually provide "free" roundtrip tickets (usually in the form
of e-tickets). But, she cautioned, only one way was valid.
Isleta said this was a way for human traffickers to lower their cost and to
demonstrate to their prospective victims that they were charging only a minimal
recruitment fee while in the Philippines.
"To lower costs, human traffickers connive with travel agencies to issue dummy
return tickets, usually from an airline different from the outbound one, to
allow the trafficking victim to comply with the Philippine Bureau of
Immigration (BI) requirement of a roundtrip ticket for tourists," she said.
Possession of a roundtrip ticket is a requirement for Filipino tourists who
travel abroad. It is checked at the port of exit in the Philippines, as well as
the port of entry of the destination country.
"This modus operandi lowers the cost of trafficking people across borders as
traffickers only need to advance the cost of the outbound flight," she added.
