BI intercepts Vietnamese minors for using fake German passports

Immigration officers banned two Vietnamese minors from entering the Philippines and stopped a third one from taking a connecting flight after they presented fake German passports.

In a press release Thursday, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said two Vietnamese teenagers, aged 17 and 15 years old, arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from Saigon.

They submitted German passports, whose owners had similar facial features, but the BI photo matching system yielded 4% and 9% match for both travelers.

"They were look-alikes, but were detected as both German passports prompted a hit in the BI's Interpol derogatory check system indicating that their travel documents were reported as lost or stolen," said Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco.

The minors admitted that a fixer provided the passports, who said they could easily travel if they used these instead of their Vietnamese passports. The BI seized the fake passports for turnover to the German embassy.

Meanwhile, the travelers were denied entry to the country and were boarded on the next available flight back to their port of origin. They were likewise placed on the country's immigration blacklist.

Likewise, the BI intercepted another Vietnamese minor at NAIA, who was en route to South Korea for a layover flight to Canada.

The third minor, 17, also presented a fake German passport during departure clearance.

Upon interview, he allegedly confessed his true identity and admitted that he intended to use the German passport to gain illegal entry to Canada.

The minor was taken into custody and temporarily housed under the Department of Social Welfare and Development while undergoing removal proceedings.

The BI investigation showed that he was able to illegally acquire his passport from a website allegedly based in Europe that sells fraudulent travel documents.

"It was surprising to hear how easy it was for him to acquire the passport online. This seems to be another scheme illegal migrants use to be able to secure work abroad," said Tansingco.

The BI chief said immigration officers at all ports were alerted on the alleged scheme. — VDV, GMA Integrated News