The number of persons who surreptitiously leave the country using the backdoors has “alarmingly” increased, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Thursday, Nov, 20.

“From January to September this year, 176 such cases were recorded, a 17.33 percent increase from the same period last year,” said Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) Administrative Supervisor Kristina Panopio during the 11th Manila Dialogue of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

Thus, Panopio underscored the need for enhanced maritime surveillance, inter-agency collaboration and regional cooperation.

She described the illegal migration corridor as “one of the most pressing challenges facing the Philippine border enforcement.”

She identified the southern maritime backdoor routes or what are known as irregular migration corridors as those particularly in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Palawan towards Malaysia.

“These unofficial sea channels continue to be exploited by traffickers and illegal recruiters seeking to bypass formal immigration checks,” she stressed.

Thus, she also said, many passengers end up in many Southeast Asian countries trafficked for domestic servitude, fishing, forced labor, or sexual exploitation.

“Recruits are often instructed to avoid international airports and instead exit through these coastal points where they travel on small boats without travel documents or departure records,” she said.

Thereafter, those leaving the country through the backdoor often end up in exploitative working conditions, she added.