Freed captives describe scam operations in Myanmar

Their nightmare was supposed to be over.

Last month, a dramatic and highly publicized operation by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities led to the release of more than 7,000 people from locked compounds in Myanmar where they were forced to trick Americans and others out of their life savings. But survivors have found themselves trapped once again, this time in overcrowded facilities with no medical care, limited food and no idea when they’ll be sent home.

One young man from India said about 800 people were being held in the same facility as him, sharing 10 dirty toilets. He said many of the people there were feverish and coughing. Like all former enslaved scammers who talked to The Associated Press, he spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for his safety.

“If we die here with health issues, who is responsible for that?” he asked.

The armed groups who are holding the survivors, as well as Thai officials across the border, say they are awaiting action from the detainees’ home governments

It’s one of the largest potential rescues of forced laborers in modern history, but advocates say the first major effort to crack down on the cyber scam industry has turned into a growing humanitarian crisis.

The people released are just a small fraction of what could be 300,000 people working in similar scam operations across the region, according to an estimate from the United States Institute of Peace. Human rights groups and analysts add that the networks that run these illegal scams will continue to operate unless much broader action is taken against them.

A high-profile crackdown

The trapped people, some of whom are highly educated and fluent in English, were initially lured to Thailand with promises of lucrative office jobs, only to find themselves locked in buildings where they describe being forced to sit at computers up to 16 hours a day running scams. Refusing to work could bring beatings, starvation and electric shocks.

“Your passport is confiscated, you cannot go outside and everything is like hell, a living hell,” a trapped Pakistani man told The Associated Press.

Cyber scams run from compounds have flourished during the pandemic, targeting people around the world. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes estimates that between $18 billion and $37 billion was lost in Asia alone in 2023, with minimal government action against the criminal industry’s spread.

Beijing began pushing the region's governments to crack down this year after a young Chinese actor was trafficked to Myanmar by people who promised him an acting job in Thailand. His girlfriend spearheaded a viral social media campaign that led to his release.

Following that rescue, a senior Chinese government official visited Thailand and Myanmar demanding an end to the scams. In response, Thailand cut electricity, internet and gas supplies to five border towns in Myanmar.

Shortly after, the ethnic militia groups that rule this part of Myanmar — the Kayin Border Guard Force and the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army — asked some of the trapped scammers if they wanted to leave, and then escorted them out of their compounds.

From forced labor to detention

As the number of people released grew into the thousands, formerly enslaved scammers found themselves caught in indefinite detention just across a narrow, slow-moving river’s width from freedom.

Most are being held either in army camps controlled by the Kayin Border Guard Force, or repurposed scam compounds, where many have been since early February.

For weeks, men and women have shared unsanitary conditions, sleeping on the floor and eating what their captors provide. At one point, the Border Guard Force said that over 7,000 people were crammed into these facilities, as China began busing citizens across the border for flights.

Exclusive photos obtained by AP underscore the detainees' desperation: Surgical masks, often two per face, cover their eyes, noses and mouths as they huddle under the watchful eyes of armed guards.

“It felt like a blessing that we came out of that trap, but the actual thing is that every person just wants to go back home,” said another Indian man, 24, speaking softly on a contraband phone from inside a makeshift detention center. He asked to not publish his name out of concern for his safety and because the militias guarding them had confiscated their phones.

Last week, fights broke out between Chinese citizens waiting to go home and the security forces guarding them, two detainees told the AP.