During 5 months of the current year 354 Phllippines nationals arrived in Azerbaijan Republic

On June 25, 2012 a women – national of the Republic of Philippines applied for asylum to the State Migration Service of Azerbaijan Republic. The person was placed in asylum center of the State Migration Service designed for asylum-seekers and equipped in compliance with international standards. Investigation was carried out on the person within the requirements of the existing legislation. During the interview she stated that she didn’t have identification documents and therefore asked to provide her assistance in returning to her country. 

On June 28, 2012 representatives of the Ombudsman Office and the leadership of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) met the citizen of the Republic of Philippines voluntarily accommodated in asylum center, got acquainted on site with the condition of the person in asylum center. Representatives of the both institutions stated that the created facilities were satisfactory. IOM offered its assistance to the State Migration Service in returning the Philippine woman to her country. Information on the person has been sent to the Embassy of the Republic of Philippines in Ankara via IOM. At present joint measures are being continued towards returning the person to her country.

Regarding the abovementioned issue some non-governmental organizations are trying to use the current situation in their own interests and give false information to the public about it. Though President of Social Union “Azerbaijan Migration Center” Alovsat Aliyev claimed on their webpage that the citizen of Philippines was a victim of human trafficking, as a result of the documents submitted to the State Migration Service by him it was known that the materials collected related with the person were investigated by Main Organized Crime Department of MIA, was discovered that the Philippine citizen was not a victim of human trafficking and decision was taken on rejecting the start of criminal case.

At the same time the articles which say “up to 900 Philippine nationals arrived in Azerbaijan in the first half of 2012, these persons have not obtained permissions for residing and working in the territory of the country for long period, as well as these persons have not left the country and there is not any information about their place of stay” placed on the webpage of “Azerbaijan Migration Center” have no base or ground.

According to the official information of the State Migration Service of Azerbaijan Republic, during 5 months of the current year 354 citizens of Philippines in total has arrived in the territory of Azerbaijan Republic. 208 of them have left the territory of the country after the expiration of the validity period of visa. At present 107 of them are residing in the territory of the country upon relevant permissions issued by the State Migration Service. Necessary measures are being continued for revealing and taking relevant decisions on 39 citizens of Philippines whose staying period has expired.