2,000 in October<\/a>. But if more operations are planned then support needs to be available for the thousands of survivors, who may have physical and mental health needs, said Andrey Sawchenko, the International Justice Mission\u2019s (IJM) vice-president for programme impact in Asia-Pacific.<\/p>\nAfter 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 triggered a chronic kidney problem that made him a hindrance.<\/p>\n
Felix said the conditions, with no medical care and frequent violence were \u201clike hell\u201d. \u201cThey punch you, they kick you, everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some victims have escaped, hiding in dense jungle, risking capture and death. Others pay a ransom for release. An increasing number are rescued by local NGOs such as the Thailand-based Immanuel Foundation, and governments. Local authorities or charities then work with embassies to begin the process of sending them back to their home countries, but while they wait it can be difficult to find food or somewhere to stay.<\/p>\nCompounds inside KK Park, one of the major hubs for scam centres and human trafficking in Myawaddy, Myanmar.<\/span> Photograph: Jittrapon Kaicome\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIJM supported Felix with money for food during the two months he waited in Bangkok until he was repatriated. He doesn\u2019t know what he would have done otherwise. \u201cThey were even taking me to different medical facilities to try to treat my kidney,\u201d he said. He later had to have it removed.<\/p>\n
Smaller aid groups and local shelters are overwhelmed and underfunded, said Miller, and large aid organisations such as the Red Cross are not engaged. \u201cThere is very little humanitarian assistance across the board for this issue,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nAgencies are facing challenges amid the widespread funding cuts but also encounter access problems in Cambodia and Myanmar where there are strict rules for how international groups can operate. \u201cIt would be great if there were more humanitarian aid organisations, NGOs, civil society organisations operating,\u201d said Ferrer.<\/p>\nThese are not the only barriers to aid though. That the survivors were involved in cybercrime makes them less than ideal beneficiaries. \u201cThere is a major bias that\u2019s happening across the sector in general; that most do not see them as victims of human trafficking,\u201d Miller said. While Thailand has what Ferrer calls a more robust victim screening process in comparison with Cambodia, both countries have arrested victims. This is \u201ca blind spot in the humanitarian resource category,\u201d said Miller.<\/p>\n
In Cambodia, Ling Li of the EOS Collective, which works to support survivors of the scam industry, said the UN International Organization for Migration had been unable to help provide victims with accommodation because doing so without a valid visa is illegal. Smuggled across borders, victims rarely have the right paperwork.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis raises a serious and painful question. If international institutions who have victim protection in their mandate cannot provide protection, emergency assistance, or even a safe space for trafficking survivors, what is their role on the ground?\u201d said Li.<\/p>\nMore than 250 scam gang victims released in Myanmar arrive in Thailand in February 2025. <\/span> Photograph: Somrerk Kosolwitthayanant\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWithout proper help, victims could be tempted to return to the scam farms where at least they had shelter. \u201cThe potential to be caught back up in this form of trafficking or any other kind of exploitation in their home countries or wherever they are is high,\u201d said Miller.<\/p>\n
Tomoya Obokata, UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, thinks it should be the responsibility of governments to provide safe houses, medical and psychological support before victims can travel home.<\/p>\n
The problem, said Miller, is that the sheer volume of people escaping is so high. She called for cross-government cooperation and for people to be treated as victims until proven otherwise. Obokata suggested governments should confiscate the proceeds of the scams to fund frontline groups. \u201cThere\u2019s no excuse for governments to say they do not have any resources,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Destitute #survivors #southeast #Asias #cyberscam #farms #international #crisis #Global #development<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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