Human trafficking for forced criminal activity is growing rapidly across Southeast Asia, with hundreds of thousands of people trapped in online scam operations, the United Nations.
Marking the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Director General Amy Pope said many victims are lured with false job offers and end up detained in scam compounds, where they are forced to commit cybercrimes.
“These operations bring in an estimated $40 billion a year, and many of those trapped are migrants, young jobseekers, children, and people with disabilities,” Pope said.
She warned that instead of receiving protection, many victims are arrested and prosecuted for crimes they were forced to commit.
“No one should be jailed for something they were forced to do,” Pope said, urging governments to strengthen laws to protect trafficking survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.
Since 2022, IOM has helped nearly 3,000 victims rebuild their lives, including repatriating individuals from the Philippines and Vietnam and assisting victims in Thailand and Myanmar.
The UN also cited Myanmar’s ongoing conflict as a factor enabling the spread of online fraud operations in lawless border areas, where victims are held in heavily guarded compounds and forced to run romance and investment scams on social media, often involving untraceable cryptocurrency payments.
