Destitute survivors of Southeast Asia’s cyber fraud farms an ‘international crisis’ | global development

Charities and aid workers have called for urgent international government support for victims of Southeast Asia’s deadly scam compilationsfollow damning report by Amnesty International.

The numbers of survivors of cyber fraud “farms” left destitute and on the city streets of Cambodia and Myanmar is an “international crisis”, according to the research published in January.

Aid workers say not enough humanitarian organizations are stepping up to support survivors of the scam farmsdespite the increasing number of foreigners sleeping on the streets and in need of food.

Hundreds of thousands of people of more than 50 countries are estimated to be trapped in large areas in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Malaysia. Most are lured to the region by the promise of a well-paid job, but instead are trafficked across borders and forced into catfishing by criminal gangs unsuspecting victims with no money. To refuse is to risk torture, sexual assault or even death.

Amnesty’s investigation identified a growing number of traumatized individuals trapped in Cambodia, homeless and without passports or money, as “an international crisis on Cambodian soil”.

“We don’t see the Cambodian state providing victim screening for these individuals or other support that you might expect in a situation like this: a humanitarian crisis,” said Montse Ferrer, the group’s regional research director. “And NGO support is insufficient, especially in the wake of widespread aid funding cuts the past year.”

In Cambodia, many who escaped sleep on the streets; in MyanmarThose rescued by authorities are held for weeks at a time in parking lots, military camps or detention centers while they wait to be processed, said Amy Miller, Southeast Asia director of aid agency Acts of Mercy.

In the past year, the governments of Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Myanmar’s military junta, have begun a crackdown on the operations that have become permanent along borders since the Covid pandemic.

More than 7,000 people were saved in an operation in Myanmar last February and a further 2,000 in October. But if more operations are planned, support must be available for the thousands of survivors, who may have physical and mental health needs, said Andrey Sawchenko, the International Justice Mission’s (IJM) vice president for program impact in Asia Pacific.

After 18 months trapped in two different compounds in Myanmar, Felix (31) from Ethiopia was released by his captors after the 18-hour shifts at a computer caused a chronic kidney problem that made him a handicap.

Felix said the conditions, with no medical care and frequent violence, were “like hell.” “They hit you, they kick you, everything,” he said.

Some victims escaped and hid in dense jungle, risking capture and death. Others pay a ransom for release. An increasing number are being rescued by local NGOs such as the Thailand-based Immanuel Foundation, and governments. Local authorities or charities then work with embassies to start the process of sending them back to their home countries, but while they wait it can be difficult to find food or accommodation.

IJM supported Felix with money for food during the two months he waited in Bangkok until he was repatriated. He doesn’t know what he would have done otherwise. “They even took me to different medical facilities to try to treat my kidney,” he said. He later had to have it removed.

Smaller aid groups and local shelters are overwhelmed and underfunded, Miller said, and large aid organizations like the Red Cross are not involved. “There is very little humanitarian aid across the board for this issue,” she said.

Agencies face challenges amid widespread funding cuts, but also face access problems in Cambodia and Myanmar where there are strict rules on how international groups can operate. “It would be great if there were more humanitarian aid organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations working,” Ferrer said.

However, these are not the only barriers to help. That the survivors were involved in cybercrime makes them less than ideal beneficiaries. “There’s a huge bias that generally occurs in the sector; that most don’t see them as victims of human trafficking,” Miller said. While Thailand has what Ferrer calls a more robust victim screening process compared to Cambodia, both countries have arrested victims. This is “a blind spot in the humanitarian resources category,” Miller said.

In Cambodia, Ling Li of the EOS Collective, which works to support survivors of the scam industry, said the UN’s International Organization for Migration could not help provide accommodation for victims because it is illegal to do so without a valid visa. Smuggling across borders, victims rarely have the proper paperwork.

“This raises a serious and painful question. If international institutions that have victim protection in their mandate cannot provide protection, first aid or even a safe space for human trafficking survivors, what is their role on the ground?” Li said.

Without proper help, victims may be tempted to return to the scam farms where they at least had shelter. “The potential to be caught back into this form of human trafficking or any other type of exploitation in their home countries or wherever they are is huge,” Miller said.

Tomoya Obokata, a Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, believes it should be the responsibility of governments to provide victims with safe homes, medical and psychological support before they can travel home.

The problem, Miller said, is that the sheer amount of people escaping is so high. She called for cooperation between the government and for people to be treated as victims until proven otherwise. Obokata suggested that governments should confiscate the proceeds of the scams to fund frontline groups. “There is no excuse for governments to say they have no resources,” he said.