According to the UN Human Rights, criminal gangs in Southern Asia have forced hundreds of thousands of people into participating in illegal online scam operations.
According to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that at least 120,000 people in strife-torn Myanmar and roughly 100,000 in Cambodia “may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams.
In May, leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations agreed at a summit in Indonesia to tighten border controls and law enforcement and broaden public education to fight criminal syndicates that traffic workers to other nations.
Criminal gangs have increasingly targeted migrants and lured some victims by false recruitment — suggesting they are destined for real jobs.
Laos, the Philippines, and Thailand were mentioned as the destinations for traffickers.
In June, Philippine police backed by commandos led a raid to rescue more than 2,700 workers from China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and more than a dozen other countries who were allegedly swindled into working for fraudulent online gaming sites.
Some victims have been subjected to torture, cruel punishments, sexual violence, and arbitrary detention, among other crimes.
