A Botswana citizen is reported to be among 36 foreigners who are to be deported from the Philippines after being arrested for violating the country’s immigration lawsÔÇô it emerged this week. The Botswana national is understood to be among foreigners who have been “overstaying” at the Philippines detention center in Bicutan, Taguig City.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Clifford Maribe, however, told The Sunday Standard that he was not aware of the case. Maribe, who said he was out of the country, referred the newspaper to other officials at the ministry who could not be reached. The Philippines Global News newspaper reported this week that “some of the 36 alien detainees have been languishing in jail for years in spite of being issued summary deportation orders by the bureau’s board of commissioners, according to BI chief Marcelino Libanan.
Global News quoted the official saying, “We’re gong to hasten their deportation in line with our program to decongest our Bicutan jail and improve the conditions in the facility.” He added that the bureau was only waiting for the release of the aliens’ travel documents from their respective embassies as well as the clearances required for their deportation. According to Libanan, the BI does not deport an alien without clearances from the court, the police and the National Bureau of Investigation. This is to ensure that they have no pending civil and criminal cases that could impede their departure.
He said that aside from the lack of travel documents and clearances, some of the detainees have yet to buy their plane tickets and to pay their fines for violating immigration laws. Libanan said that once deported, these undesirable aliens would be included in the immigration blacklist and would be banned from re-entering the country. Acting BI legal chief Bienvenido Chy furnished a list of the offenses committed by the undesirable aliens. They ranged from non possession of valid immigration documents, overstaying, illegal entry and possession, and use of spurious documents.
The aliens set to be deported come from Botswana, Nigeria, China, India, South Korea, Germany, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Turkey, Japan, Egypt, Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Burma (Myanmar).
