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MANILA--The Bureau of Immigration has received a pat on the back from Saudi Arabia after it foiled an attempt by 20 undocumented Filipinos to slip into the Middle Eastern kingdom to work.
In a Nov. 7 letter to Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan, Saudi Ambassador to Manila Mohammed Ameen Wali cited an improved immigration system for frustrating the attempt by an illegal recruiter to send Filipinos to work in Saudi Arabia after routing them through Malaysia ostensibly to attend a seminar.
The 20 were not allowed to board their flight to Malaysia at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, after they were found to be carrying spurious documents, including a letter of invitation that was not duly authenticated by the Philippine Embassy in Malaysia as required by regulations.
Libanan said Filipino immigration officers have been extra vigilant lately as illegal recruiters and human traffickers had stepped up their activities, a bureau records showed.
Since January 2008, the bureau said more than 600 undocumented workers have been off-loaded from flights for lack of proper documentation or dubious travel and work papers.
