East Africans recently freed from human traffickers in Myanmar may still face difficulties even after their return.
Accordignto theeastafrican.co.ke, many endured severe mistreatment, including torture and forced training, raising concerns about their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
“The Kenyans trained in scamming will return home with skills in online crimes and your guess is as good as mine as to the threats they pose,” said Lindsay Kiptiness Kimwole, Kenya’s envoy in Bangkok, Thailand.
According to Mr Kimwole, they have rescued and repatriated 180 Kenyans since 2022.
“We are currently repatriating 129 nationals with the support of the State Department for Diaspora Affairs and other agencies,” he added.
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Most of those rescued are Kenyans but the Kenyan mission also has consular responsibility for East Africans whose countries have no embassies in Bangkok.
Official data released by Thai authorities last week indicated some 12 nationals from Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi have also been rescued. Their countries will foot repatriation bills.
There is another problem too: Survivors have been wounded in the process and may require specialised care back home.
The victims were reportedly lured to Myanmar with promises of lucrative jobs, only to find themselves trapped in exploitative conditions.
Officials of the Myanmar junta said they are holding citizens from 29 countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Philippines and the Czech Republic who had been rescued.
Thai media has reported that Bangkok imposed strict regulations on foreigners stranded at the border, allowing only 300 individuals to enter the country daily from a total of 7,000 victims.
Last week, Nairobi said they were in talks with Thai authorities to reopen the Thai-Myanmar border, to evacuate 64 Kenyans who were still stranded.
A Burmese insurgent group, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), which recently raided fraud centres in the region, handed the victims over to Thai authorities on February 12, a dispatch had said.
The victims, many from Africa said that they were forced “to meet monthly earnings targets of up to $50,000.” If they failed, they were tortured.
“They were only allowed to sleep for two to three hours a day and worked nonstop. They were kept in dark cells and subjected to continuous abuse,” Thai authorities said.
The Ethiopian embassy in India said there were at least 154 premises across the country where foreigners were being held.
Cyber scams run from compounds flourished during the pandemic, targeting people around the world. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes estimates that between $18 billion and $37 billion was lost in Asia alone in 2023, with minimal government action against the criminal industry’s spread.
