Southeast Asia: Dismantling human trafficking linked to online scams
This human trafficking, which mainly affects Vietnamese and Taiwanese citizens, was intended to repatriate people to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Burma, in order to force them to carry out online scams.
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2 mins
Police forces in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and China have launched an operation to shut down a massive scam ring in Southeast Asia.
This human trafficking, mainly affecting Vietnamese and Taiwanese citizens, was intended to repatriate people to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Burma, in order to force them to carry out online scams.
While the number of victims still remains unknown, several hundred people have been identified and arrests have taken place in several countries.
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It all starts with an attractive and well-paid job offer in a Southeast Asian country.
The future victim decides to go to Cambodia, Thailand, Laos or Burma, depending on the place indicated on the job offer.
When she arrives there, she is greeted by mafia groups and forced to give up her passport.
Then begins a Calvary;
locked in an office, the victims had to carry out scams over the telephone or on the Internet.
The criminals also pushed them to recruit other people to feed the network in exchange for a hypothetical release.
According to testimonies, they were subjected to physical and sexual violence, as well as deprivation of water and food.
Hundreds of arrests in Cambodia
Last week, a video circulating on social networks showed about 40 Vietnamese being chased by guards armed with sticks in Cambodia.
According to local media, they are victims of this vast network trying to flee to Vietnam.
To date, it is impossible to establish a precise balance sheet.
But the Taiwanese authorities have identified just under 400 nationals duped by the mafia network.
The Cambodian authorities have already announced several hundred arrests in a vast operation to dismantle this large-scale human trafficking.
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