24-year-old Ravi from Sri Lanka went to Thailand for an IT job. However, instead of working in a high-rise office in Bangkok, he was trapped in a dark complex in Myanmar. Ravi was kidnapped. Then he was taken across the river near the Thai border town of Mae Sot. "They undressed me, put me on a chair and gave me electric shocks on my legs, I thought my life was over," said Ravi. "There, I was sold to one of the many camps for Chinese-speaking people doing online scams," he says.
Trafficking victims like Ravi are forced to work long hours in these camps. Fake online identities are created for these victims and presented as women. Their job is to cheat single men in America and Europe. In August 2023, the United Nations estimated that more than 1.2 million people in Myanmar and 100,000 people in Cambodia were forced to commit various types of online scams.
According to Ravi, they were scared. About 40 young men and women from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and African countries were forcibly kept in that camp. High walls and barbed wire were installed around the compound and the entrance was guarded by gunmen around the clock.
Ravi and others were forced to work 22 hours a day. There was only one day off in a month. And they expected to victimize at least three people every day. Those who did not obey what they said had to endure torture or take money to escape.
Ravi said that after spending a month in jail, he was sold to another gang. Because the 'company' he worked for had closed down. He was trapped in Myanmar for 6 months and during that time he was sold to three different gangs.
'He told his new gangmasters that Afr could no longer deceive other people and that they should allow him to return to Sri Lanka. One day he had a fight with his team leader on this issue. Ravi was then taken to a cell and tortured for 16 days.
Finally his 'Chinese boss' met Ravi. He gave Ravi one last chance to work again. Ravi said, I had no choice. Until then, half of my body was crippled. For the next four months, Ravi managed the Facebook account with the help of VPN, artificial intelligence apps and 3D video cameras. Meanwhile, Ravi asks permission to go to Sri Lanka to visit his ailing mother.
The leader of the gang set a condition for Ravi to pay a ransom of 600,000 baht ($2,000) and 200,000 baht ($650) to cross the river to Thailand. Ravi's parents mortgaged the house and paid the ransom. Then he was taken to Mae Sot.
He was also fined 20,000 Thai baht ($550) at the airport for not getting a visa. For this, Ravi's parents had to take another loan. According to Ravi, when he arrived in Sri Lanka, he had a total debt of 18.50 lakh rupees (6 thousand 100 dollars).
- Source : BBC
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