THAILAND: The United Nations has reported that criminal gangs are forcing hundreds of thousands of people into illegal online businesses in Southeast Asia, including fraud centres and online gambling.
According to “credible sources” referenced in the study, at least 120,000 individuals may be victims of scams in Myanmar and about 100,000 people may be victims of scams in Cambodia.
Other criminal-owned businesses in Laos, the Philippines, and Thailand include crypto-fraud and online gambling, as per the report.
Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has stated that those forced into scamming enterprises are subjected to cruel treatment. He added they are victims and not criminals.
The closure of casinos, which led to emigration to less controlled Southeast Asia, has been a significant factor in the escalation of this issue since the COVID pandemic, according to a UN Human Rights Office report.
The report reveals that scam centres are expanding rapidly, generating billions of dollars annually.
Criminal actors target migrants in vulnerable situations for recruitment into criminal operations, pretending to offer them real jobs, according to the report.
It also cited that most victims of human trafficking are from Southeast Asian nations, including China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, but some are recruited from Africa and Latin America.
The United Nations Human Rights Office urged regional governments to enhance the rule of law and combat corruption in order to “break the cycle of impunity” that permits illicit organisations to grow.
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