Bi Blocks Entry Of 600 'undesirable' Aliens

[Steve]

SOURCE: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-ma...esirable-aliensThe Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Friday said that more than 600 "undesirable" foreigners have been barred from entering the country from January to November this year.BI Commissioner Marcelino Libanan said that many of those barred have spurious travel documents and are believed to be victims of human trafficking."All of them have been placed in our blacklist of undesirable aliens and banned from entering the Philippines. These syndicates have been using the Philippines as a transit point for trafficking their victims to destinations like the United States, Canada and Europe," Libanan said.Libanan attributed the successful campaign to the heightened vigilance of the bureau, which, he said, has made it more difficult for human trafficking syndicates from using the Philippines as transit point or source of their victims."With the continued influx of foreign visitors to our country, and although it is our policy to welcome tourists and investors to our shores, we in the Bureau of Immigration cannot simply relax in doing our job as chief gatekeepers of the country," he said.BI Associate Commissioner Roy Almoro said reforms at the bureau have made it more difficult for transnational criminals to ply their trade in the country.The bureau had recently installed the Interpol's database of foreign fugitives at the country's international airports for a more efficient screening of incoming foreigners suspected of involvement in transnational crimes.Immigration officers have also been training continuously to update their skills in profiling incoming foreigners and detecting fraudulent documents so they can keep up with the evolving modus operandi of transnational criminals.Statistics from the BI show that of the more than 600 foreigners barred from entering the country from January to November, 229 were not properly documented while 244 failed to explain the purpose of their visit.A breakdown of their nationalities showed that the Chinese topped the list of excluded aliens with 160; followed by Koreans, 70; Nigerians, 60; Taiwanese, 46; Indians, 44; Americans, 42; Ghanians, 39; and Japanese, 33.