Philippines investigates agents suspected of trafficking women to Syria

The Philippine immigration office announced Wednesday that it had opened an investigation into allegations that some of its agents were involved in the trafficking of 44 women to work in Syria.

A Senate investigation into human trafficking found that women using tourist visas traveled from the Philippines to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where they were promised work.

They were “locked in a dark and dirty dormitory and forced to sleep on the floor,” Senator Risa Hontiveros, who is leading the investigation, previously said.

After their 30-day visas expired, they were forced to travel to Damascus where they were sold to employers for up to $10,000.

“Our immigration officers seem to be sending our women into slavery,” Hontiveros said last week.

Dozens of people fled to the Philippine embassy in the Syrian capital “due to harsh working conditions,” the Foreign Ministry said last month.

He repatriated at least six of the undocumented workers after obtaining exit visas for them.

“I am disappointed and frustrated by the alleged involvement of BI staff in these nefarious activities,” immigration chief Jaime Morente told the Senate inquiry, according to a statement released Wednesday.

“Like what we discussed in previous hearings, this scheme grew with people from many sectors involved,” said Morente, who added that at least 28 agents are currently under investigation for their alleged participation in trafficking.

“As we have already proven in the past, we will not hesitate to subject them to the most severe sanctions,” Morente said.

Severe poverty in the Philippines has for decades pushed Filipinos to seek better-paying jobs abroad.

Millions of people are currently working legally and illegally in a wide range of jobs abroad.

The money they send home is a lifeline for their families, but advocacy groups have highlighted the social cost of migration, which tears families apart and leaves Filipinos vulnerable to abuse.

The commissioner said authorities blocked 112,000 Filipinos from leaving the country with “improper documents” between 2017 and 2020 because they were presumably traveling abroad for work on a tourist visa.

He added that immigration authorities referred 1,070 people to the Interagency Council Against Trafficking during the same period because they were potential victims of human trafficking.