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The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Sunday its officers at airports rescued a total of 688 possible victims of human trafficking and illegal recruitment.

In a statement , Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente disclosed that immigration officers deferred the departure of a total of 13,680 passengers in 2021, majority of which for having improper documents.

According to the BI’s Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU), of the number, 491 were seen as possible human trafficking victims and were turned over to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance and investigation.

A total of 197 victims were turned over to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), mostly for presenting counterfeit or questionable overseas work permits and job contracts.

“There is still a large number of minors and underage victims posing as legitimate workers that were intercepted this year despite the pandemic and despite the continuous warnings we have issued,” said Morente.

The BI reported 326 minor and underage victims intercepted in 2021, with 18 of which assumed the identities of other persons.

Some 34 documents presented during departure were also found to be fraudulent or counterfeit by the BI’s forensic documents laboratory. DMS