More minors with fake passports trying to leave #Philippines

Immigration officials at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) are alarmed over the growing number of underage Filipino women who try to leave the country and work abroad using fraudulent travel documents.

Since June, a total of 114 girls below 21 years old have been turned away by airport officials, according to Marc Red Mariñas, acting immigration deputy commissioner and Port Operations Division chief.

He said that in June alone, 67 people who confessed to being minors were barred from leaving the country.

Mariñas said that all of the apprehended passengers presented passports showing that they were adults. They also had valid overseas employment permits, working visas and job contracts.

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 “It is evident that these young women were victimized by syndicates that specialize in the procurement of documents to make it appear that they are old enough to work abroad,” he added.

40 rescued in raid

Last month, the Manila Police District rescued more than 40 women, some of them minors, during a raid in Sta. Cruz, Manila. They were illegally recruited from Mindanao and offered work as household service workers in Saudi Arabia.

A report from the BI-Naia Travel Control and Enforcement Unit showed that the latest apprehensions involved four girls who were intercepted on Aug. 2 while trying to leave on a Saudia Airlines flight for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The passengers allegedly admitted during investigation that they were below 21 years old although their passports indicated that they were in their late 20s.

They were later turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking.

Source - TheNation

 

#Thailand - 9 policemen sacked as Mae Hong Son child-sex investigation widens

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NINE MAE HONG SON police-men have been dismissed from the civil service and put under serious disciplinary investigation after being implicated in the northern province’s underage prostitution scandal.

They could also face legal action for their alleged involvement in the teenage vice ring, deputy national chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said yesterday.

The nine officers include alleged racket operator Pol Senior Sgt Major Yutthachai Thongchat of Nam Piang Din police station, three officers under Kong Koi police station who face charges of gang-raping of a minor, and five policemen for whom summonses were issued for over accusation that they paid to have sex with minors.

Srivara said police investigators were gathering evidence against seven more suspects – including several state officials, a soldier and a local politician – and hoped to make arrests soon.

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He was speaking at Chiang Mai’s Provincial Police Region 5 office where he presided over a meeting to discuss an anti-human trafficking crackdown. 

Srivara said the Mae Hong Son investigation saw local police handle 37 cases – 29 of human trafficking, seven of buying sex services, and one gang rape of minor – while the Anti-Human Traffic Division (AHTD) handled one human trafficking case in which all eight suspects had been arrested, including Yutthachai.

Earlier yesterday, Srivara went to Mae Hong Son to check progress in the investigation. He met some of the four police who showed up in response to summonses yesterday, but a teacher who reportedly moved away from the province failed to show up.

The fifth police officer, a deputy superintendent who is a lieutenant colonel, also did not appear, claiming he was preoccupied with work. But his supervisor said he had not been assigned with any mission. 

Although the officer, who also now faces an investigation for omission of duty, is believed to have fled, investigators issued a second summons for him. If he fails to respond by May 15, an arrest warrant will be obtained. 

Srivara also visited a police flat where the missing officer allegedly took a minor for sex but it was empty.

Also yesterday, a master sergeant under the Internal Security Operations Command, identified by victims as “Uncle Pan”, went to the Mae Hong Son police office to report to Srivara and hand over documents he said proved his innocence, but missed him. However, he caught up later at Mae Hong Son airport.

“Uncle Pan” said he knew the girls but his involvement with them was for intelligence-gathering purposes against the prostitution ring.

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