GENEVA, Feb 23 (IPS) – A report The document published today by the UN Human Rights Office graphically details the experiences of some of the hundreds of thousands of people trafficked from dozens of countries around the world to work in deep-rooted scam operations, mainly in Southeast Asia, but also far beyond.
The report documents cases of torture and other ill-treatment, sexual abuse and exploitation, forced abortions, food deprivation, solitary confinement and other serious human rights violations. Survivors also shared experiences of border officials helping scammers, and of threats and extortion by police.
Satellite images and on-the-ground reports show that nearly three-quarters of the scam operations are in the Mekong region, which have also spread to some Pacific islands and South Asia, as well as the Gulf States, West Africa and the Americas.
“The treatment individuals receive as part of fraud operations is alarming,” said the report, based on interviews with survivors from Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
They were trafficked between 2021 and 2025 to scam centers in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. It is also based on interviews with police and border officials, as well as civil society and others with knowledge of such operations.
Victims described being lured into job scams under false pretenses and then coerced into committing online fraud, ranging from impersonation, online extortion, financial fraud and romance scams.
The operations described are fluid, with some survivors sharing experiences of being imprisoned in immense complexes resembling self-contained cities, some of which exceed 500 hectares in size, consisting of heavily fortified multi-storey buildings with high walls topped with barbed wire, guarded by armed and uniformed security personnel.
“A victim from Sri Lanka described how those who failed to meet monthly scam targets were immersed in water containers (known as ‘water prisons’) for hours,” said the report, which is an update of a 2023 UN Human Rights report.
“Victims also reported being forced to witness or even commit serious assaults on others as a means of ensuring compliance; a Bangladeshi victim said he was ordered to beat other workers and a victim from Ghana reported being forced to watch his friend being beaten in front of his eyes.”
They told of people who lost their lives trying to escape, including falling from balconies and roofs in the compound.
Failed rescue attempts were also severely punished, the report shows. A Vietnamese victim described how her sister was beaten, tasered and locked in a room without food for seven days after her sister tried to help her escape.
It was discovered that traffickers are video calling relatives to watch their loved one being abused and mistreated in order to pressure families to pay excessive ransoms.
Although most victims described receiving some level of pay, all interviewees faced a series of escalating deductions from the UN Human Rights Office and none received the full promised salary. One Thai victim reported that they were ordered to meet strict scam targets of around US$9,500 per day to avoid fines, beatings or even being ‘sold’ to another compound with harsher conditions.
“The litany of abuse is staggering and at the same time heartbreaking,” said UN human rights chief Volker Türk. “But instead of receiving protection, care and rehabilitation, as well as the pathways to justice and redress to which they are entitled, victims are too often faced with disbelief, stigmatization and even further punishment.”
“Effective responses must focus on human rights law and standards. Crucially, this means that coercive crime is explicitly recognized within anti-trafficking laws and regulations and that the principle of non-punishment for victims of trafficking is guaranteed.”
“Victims of such abuses need coordinated timely, safe and effective rescue operations, respect for the principle of non-refoulement, as well as available support mechanisms to ensure torture and trauma rehabilitation and address the risks of reprisals or renewed trafficking.”
The report uniquely applies behavioral science and systems analysis to investigate why people continue to fall prey to fraudulent recruitment into scam operations and propose rights-based and effective prevention measures.
“There should be greater availability and accessibility of safe labor migration pathways and meaningful monitoring of recruitment, such as verifying online vacancies and identifying suspicious recruitment patterns,” Türk said.
He called on States and relevant stakeholders to engage trusted and community-based actors, such as survivor-led groups, in reaching out to individuals believed to be at risk of being trafficked into fraud operations. Awareness-raising activities must be accessible, concrete and available through trusted media.
Türk also urged states and regional bodies to take effective action against corruption, which he said is deeply entrenched in such lucrative scam operations, and to prosecute the criminal syndicates behind them. He also recalled the importance of ensuring that independent media, human rights defenders and civil society organizations can carry out their vital work against human trafficking free from interference.
IPS UN Office
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