The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has expressed concerns over the increasing number of Filipinos leaving the country through the backdoor to find employment overseas.
The BI issued the statement following the repatriation of another human trafficking victim from Cambodia who was illegally employed in a scam operation in that country.
BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the trafficking victim left through an illegal migration corridor commonly known as backdoor on board a boat from Tawi-Tawi.
The victim was rescued with the assistance of the Philippine Embassy in Cambodia and is currently in the custody of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).
The victim, one of the 26 repatriated last April 16, said he was recruited by a foreign national and instructed to exit the Philippines through a small boat in Tawi-Tawi bound for Malaysia.
He was then shuttled across several countries—Malaysia, Brunei, Bangkok, and Laos—before ending up in Myanmar and Cambodia.
“This case reveals a disturbing new trend where trafficked Filipinos are forced to be part of syndicates and are used to deceive foreign nationals online. We are now seeing victims being exploited not only as targets, but also as tools in these international scam operations,” he added.
“We remind the public—especially those seeking overseas jobs—to avoid unauthorized travel routes and to be cautious of offers that sound too good to be true,” he said.