The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has intercepted a human trafficker who attempted to escort eight victims recruited to work in Israel despite the ongoing crisis in the area.
The Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) reported the female trafficker attempted to depart with the victims on board an Emirates airlines flight at the Clark International Airport (CIA) Terminal 2.
According to the BI, the victims tried to pretend they were going on a pilgrimage to Israel, but upon questioning, they later admitted that they will work as hospital and hotel cleaners with a promised monthly salary of P60,000 to P80,000.
The recruiter reportedly worked as a travel agent, and enticed the victims to work under such circumstances.
One of the victims recounted how their agent promised that they will be employed “in a safer part of Israel.”
Deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Israel has been put on hold after the country was placed under Crisis Alert Level 2 due to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Under such restrictions, only OFWs with existing employment contracts in Israel are allowed to go back to their destination and resume their employment.
All nine passengers were turned over to the inter-agency council against trafficking (IACAT) for processing. The eight victims will undergo assistance while the trafficker faces cases against her.
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