BI denies entry of 401 foreign nationals in PH due to legal offenses

INQUIRER file photo / ALEXIS CORPUZ

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday that it denied entry of 401 foreign nationals to the country from March to April due to various offenses.

According to the BI, the excluded foreign nationals were said to be working for illegal online gaming firms.

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Among the number, there were 254 Vietnamese, 76 Chinese, 19 Indonesians, 17 Burmese, eight Moroccans, and four Ghanians.

“We look at patterns of previous arrests, as well as travel histories of other intercepted aliens,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

Tansingco also said that the BI observed that the illegal online gaming firms recruit foreign nationals to work for them.

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“These illegal hubs are usually operated by syndicates that recruit foreign nationals, enticing them to work without proper documentation,” he continued.

“We’ve seen that in many of our arrests both on the ground and at the airports,” Tansingco added.