Bureau of Immigration tightens control on Filipinos leaving for conflict zones in Middle East, says Palace

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 9): Bureau of Immigration tightens control on Filipinos leaving for conflict zones in Middle East, says Palace

Immigration officials have tightened measures on Filipinos going to conflict areas in Middle East following reports that some Muslim Filipinos are joining Islamic militants in their fight in Syria and Iraq.

The Bureau of Immigration has stepped up its alert level in handling Filipinos going to those locations, Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in an interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan Saturday.

"The Bureau of Immigration is on alert when it comes to those who are supposedly either going to Iraq, to Syria, or to other transit points kasi ayaw din naman po nating madamay sila," Valte told dzRB Radyo ng Bayan in an interview.

The palace will ask the DFA to validate the reports of Filipinos aiding Islamic militants in their fight in the Middle East, according to Valte.

While the DFA has a role, Valte said it should be the immigration bureau who handles the issue because it handles entry and exit of people.

It was reported that Philippine authorities are on alert following an increase in the number of Filipinos going to Iraq and Syria to train and fight with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

According to security officials, Syria has grown to be an attractive destination for foreign fighters and has already lured Muslim Filipinos.

Asians joining the fight in the Middle East is an emerging trend, according to them.

Filipinos joining the conflict in Syria and Iraq pose a serious danger to the country's national security because of the possibility that upon returning home, they will use their experience to apply what they learned from the ISIL terrorist group, security officials said.

The military is already facing the Abu Sayyaf threat and Filipinos leaving to fight in the Middle East poses real internal security problem in the future, they said.

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