MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 9, 2014) – The Philippines have tightened measures on Filipino workers traveling to conflict areas in Middle East following reports that some were joining Islamic militants in their fight in Syria and Iraq.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Bureau of Immigration has stepped up its alert level in handling Filipinos going to those locations.
“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 said in a radio interview.
She said the reports that some Filipinos have joined militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are still being investigated by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
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 analysts said.
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