A latest UN investigation reports that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to Southeast Asia to operate online scams.
Apparently, at least 12,000 individuals from Myanmar and another 100,000 Cambodian nationals have been coerced into working on these scams.
While most victims are said to be from Asia, some are from countries in Africa and Latin America. Despite the fact that the issue has long existed, the UN report represents the first thorough examination of its scope.
The investigation suggests that as a result of pandemic-related closures, millions of individuals were forced to stay at home and spend more time online, making them prime targets for those running online fraud schemes.
After luring the less-educated victims into joining the frauds for quick bucks, cybercrime gangs are now targeting victims with a more professional background (often graduates or post-grads).
The report further noted that the places where the victims are primarily targeted and coerced into joining cybercrime come under a jurisdiction where the governance and laws are comparatively weak, with contested authority. "In continuing to call for justice for those who have been defrauded through online criminality, we must not forget that this complex phenomenon has two sets of victims," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
According to an estimation made by the UN, these scam centres are generating a revenue of whopping billions of US dollars annually.
Trafficking for Scams
As described by the victims themselves, they were lured into the ‘jobs’ via advertisements that would assure easy work and magnificent perks, finally luring and tricking them into travelling to Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. Once they arrived at their destinations, they were apparently kept hostage and forced into working for online scam centres. The ones who refused to comply were subjected to torture and certain ‘inhuman treatment.’
Some networks also prey on those looking for love romance, in what are known as ‘pig-butchering’ scams.
In one such tragic incident that occurred last year, a Malaysian man, 25, who had travelled to Bangkok to meet a "girlfriend" with whom he had only communicated online, was killed by torture.
However, on the contrary, he was trafficked to Myanmar and was forced to work for online scam gangs. In one of his last calls to his parents, he stated he had been beaten up for supposedly fabricating a medical condition. He succumbed to the illness after a month in intensive care.
According to the UN, existing laws in many Southeast Asian nations frequently fall short of international norms and have "in large part" failed to keep up with the development of internet fraud operations since the pandemic.
Many more cases, according to Pia Oberoi, a senior consultant on migration at the UN Human Rights Office, have gone unreported because the victims experience "stigma and shame" for the task they were forced to perform.
The report further added that a much more appropriate response to the issue should "not merely [involve] addressing organised crime or enforcing border controls, but should provide protection and justice for these victims of trafficking.”
In regards to this, Mr. Türk urged governments to take a firm stance against these criminal networks."All affected states need to summon the political will to strengthen human rights and improve governance and the rule of law, including through serious and sustained efforts to tackle corruption," he said.