Friday, September 11, 2015

Filipinos trapped in their own country...

A Filipina grandmother who is currently living in Thailand recently told a friend she hasn’t visited her home country in years, and that in fact she is afraid to because despite fact that she has a valid passport, she might not be allowed back out by arbitrary decisions of officials of the Immigration department.

That isn’t as farfetched. Another woman who had spent several years working in Spain, flew back to visit her family in Bataan before flying on to Hong Kong. When she returned to Manila to fly out, immigration authorities stopped her for no discernible reason. It took three weeks and a blizzard of paperwork justifying her trip – okayed by Hong Kong – on a regular passport rather than one for domestic helpers.

These stories happen often enough to arouse genuine concerns among overseas Filipinos and often lead to journeys being aborted, delayed or interrupted by demands of officials to produce proof of intent when exiting the country.

The immigration practices of what is supposed to be a free, law-governed nation, a liberal if chaotic democracy. It also has a government which claims to be tackling the official corruption that is widely acknowledged to be a key reason why The Philippines has fallen behind most of the rest of Southeast Asia over the past 50 years. Full story...

Related posts:
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  2. Which are the world's most "powerful" passports?
  3. Pakistan is 'world leader' in visa application fraud, says British ambassador...
  4. 'My cousin wanted me for a passport'
  5. Thai government strips overseas dissidents of their passports...
  6. Walking from Norway to Africa without money or a passport...
  7. Nine-year-old girl gets past airport customs officials using her "unicorn" passport...

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