According to the United Nations, criminal gangs are trafficking in hundreds of thousands of individuals to be forced to work in scam centers across Southeast Asia. Sources estimated that 120,000 people go through this exploitation in Myanmar, and another 100,000 in Cambodia.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated, “Under the false flash of being promised a real job, people who experience this coercion are left subjected to inhumane treatment while carrying out crimes they had no part in. They are victims.” The report he was referring to was launched on Tuesday and discussed how this type of treatment has worsened since the COVID pandemic began.
The fraudulenttrap organizations are accumulating billions of US dollars each year, and it’s especially difficult to gauge the scope of the industry due its covert feel and authorities’ response, according to one report.
Though the majority of those impacted are from SE Asia, East Asia, and Latin America, officials cited “sources” and noted that some had been found from Africa as well. Amongst the ethical calls for responsibility laid out in the UN report is that for regional governments to do their part and break cycle of uncomplaining that allows scummy enterprises to flourish.
Myanmar and to the Reuters News agency requests for comment sayd nothing, yet. The UN Human Rights Office is asking governments to strengthen their rule and fight of corruption in refugees.
