See - Philippines Bureau of Immigration Continues to Illegally Detain Foreign Nationals - CNN iReport
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The Philippines Bureau of Immigration Continues to Illegally Arrest and Detain Foreign Nationals.
6 months has passed since our first story broadcast to the international media depicting how the Philippines Government treats its Foreign Visitors and Foreign Business Owners in the country. To this day 6 months later nothing has been done. Countless Foreign Nationals continue languishing in horrific conditions at the Bicutan Detention Center – Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. Many of these Foreign Nationals have been locked up there for years and for simple minor visa violations and others have no visa violations at all.
It is clear that the Philippines Immigration has no intention of cleaning up their syndicated criminal activity and becoming Foreigner friendly. We reported last June that The Officials in charge of the Immigration Bureau were kidnapping and extorting foreigners in the country until such time that a ransom is paid (generally 500,000 up to 9 Million). Then the BI will illegally deport these foreigners and blacklist them / barring them from ever returning to the country. It is the perfect crime and some say because the Immigration Officials can never be criminally charged since the victims are banned from re-entering the country.
Countless detainees have come forward to describe their unbelievable ordeal back in June. Some of the same detainees are still locked up in the detention center. Could it be because they spoke up and took action to expose the illegal syndicate? The real question is WHY is this still continuing? WHY haven’t the DOJ, Office of the President or even the Commission on Human Rights done something to fix the problem?
Foreigners have been the back bone and the savior to the Philippines during times of unimaginable troubles over the years. The recent Typhoon Yolanda devastated the area of the Central Philippines and yet it was these Foreign Nationals Countries that come to the aid of the Philippines in its time of desperation. CNN Journalist Anderson Cooper reported that there was NO sign of any leadership among the local and National Government Officials. People were not getting aid and it seemed that thousands more would die because the relief efforts were being hampered by a corrupt Government that cared more about killing looters than it did about saving lives.
It was the humanitarian aid from the world that came to the rescue once again bringing peace and stability to the Philippines in its time of need. What would be the reason why the Philippines Bureau of Immigration would continue to capture and torture Foreign Nationals who only want to help the Philippines? Our reporters have asked some tough questions in a phone interview with the CHR Chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales head of the Commission on Human Rights in Manila.
During our interview with Ms. Rosales it appeared she was well aware of the situation happening at the Bureau of Immigration and even had a team of investigators and doctors visit the Bicutan Jail. Ms. Rosales did confirm many of the victims claims did have merit and she did confirm to our reporter James McCarthy that there were many victims of the BI she would not say how many at this time. Ms. Rosales confirmed that the CHR would be investigating the files of these detainees who claim to be held illegally and swift actions would be taken. Unfortunately it has been 3 months since our interview with Ms. Rosales since then we have followed up with these detainees to see exactly what has been done and if they are still being locked up or what the status of their cases are. The answer was not what I wanted to hear. The detainees have had no contact from CHR since our first report. No changes in the Bureau of Immigration and most if not all of the detainees are still being held arbitrarily despite the international media exposure.
The international humanitarian rights group “Foreigners For Justice” have decided to take action by filing a host of criminal charges and complaints against BI Officials and are even willing to file charges against other Government agencies if they do not act to solve this issue once and for all.
We spoke with the President of the Foreigners For Justice last week Mr. John F. Reilly and he said that the United Nations is now getting involved in this Philippines Illegal Activity. He spoke about how the world has seen how corrupt the country is and that fierce action must be taken to stop this illegal syndicate from spreading.
Mr. Reilly is notifying the ICC International Criminal Court to see if formal charges can be made against Government Officials who are not doing anything to stop the despair and corruption and the Foreigners For Justice lead counsel is writing letters to all the world Governments to place a travel ban advisory on the Philippines until such time that this behavior is no longer active in the Philippines.
You can read more about this issue at the website www.philippinesimmigration.info.
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