Anti-trafficking campaigners in Hong Kong played a harrowing recording on Wednesday of a resident testifying that he has been kidnapped and forced to work for online scam syndicates in Myanmar.
Online “boiler room” scams have long had a presence across Southeast Asia but in recent months more details have emerged of people being trafficked and forced to work for them.
Victims have reported travelling to Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos on false promises of romance or high-paying jobs, and then being detained and forced to work, sometimes for months.
A 30-year-old man identified only as John said he has been trapped in Myanmar for three months and forced to run scams by armed men, according to an audio recording released on Wednesday.
“I have seen people who tried to escape but failed, they were shot and carried back in… escape is not an option,” he said.
“It’s very stressful. Money comes before everything. If I cannot meet the (revenue) quota, they may send me someplace else, where conditions could be 10 times worse.”
AFP is unable to independently verify the account which was released by local Hong Kong advocacy group Stop Trafficking of People and human rights lawyer Patricia Ho.
John said he travelled to Thailand for a vacation on a friend’s invitation but was kidnapped and taken to Myanmar, where his passport was confiscated.
Hong Kong’s government says so far 39 residents have asked for help since January…
