Zecharias ZelalemFeb 17

Hello fediverse friends.

For The Globe and Mail newspaper, I've spent the last four months hearing from survivors of Myanmar's infamous scam compounds. Run by Chinese criminal syndicates with the collaboration of at least one Burmese pro-junta militia, the camps are staffed by trafficking victims, including a growing number of Africans who are beaten, electrocuted and raped if they don't meet scamming targets. They aren't paid for their efforts.

My story is published.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-africans-scam-camps-myanmar-scamming-rings-asia/

Africans are being confined and beaten in scam camps in Myanmar

Migrants toil for long hours on social-media platforms, targeting people with crypto and romance scams

The Globe and Mail
Show threadZecharias ZelalemFeb 17
Since 2021, a coup induced civil war, and the pandemic have created a booming scamming industry based out of Myanmar. Hundreds of scam compounds have since sprouted up, typically along the Burmese-Thai border. They target westerners with cryptocurrency and romance scams. But they are staffed by trafficked people from across Asia and Africa, who travel to Thailand believing they will be hired at well paying tech jobs in Bangkok...before being driven across the border where their ordeal begins.
Show threadZecharias ZelalemFeb 17

Chinese scam camp operators in Myanmar have tortured and even murdered victims. But Meseret Mulu, a 27 year old Ethiopian woman, told me that at one point, the criminals brought in fighters from the DKBA (Democratic Karen Benevolent Army), a Burmese militia group allied with the junta...to come in and torture her, by stripping her naked and forcing her to spend hours in searing heat.

Warring factions take a cut to allow Chinese mafia gangs to open camps in their territory.

Show threadZecharias ZelalemFeb 17

The criminals operate in Myanmar, because it's too dangerous for them to do so in China. Last month, 11 Chinese operators of Burmese scam camps were executed in China.

Thailand tries to curb activities, including by shutting off internet to border villages where the scam camps are located.

How have the criminals reconnected to the web in response to this? Via good old Elon Musk. Starlink is among the biggest internet providers to Southeast Asian scamming compounds.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2gdrvy9gjo

China executes 11 members of Myanmar scam mafia

China executes 11 members of the Ming family that ran scam centres in Myanmar, state media report.

Show threadZecharias ZelalemFeb 17

India, the Philippines and China are prompt to repatriate their nationals. But African states do not do so. As such, Africans are becoming disproportionately targeted by Chinese criminal orgs knowing that little will be done to rescue them.

Africans who escape Myanmar can expect to spend lengthy stints in Thai immigration jail until they get the money for airfare/fines.

The UN itself is low on money, & issued a call last year for some $2.5M to fly home 1,000 survivors.
https://roasiapacific.iom.int/news/iom-urgently-seeks-usd-25-million-repatriate-victims-trafficking-forced-criminality-stranded-along-thai-myanmar-border

IOM Urgently Seeks USD 2.5 Million to Repatriate Victims of Trafficking for Forced Criminality Stranded along Thai-Myanmar Border

Bangkok, Thailand — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is urgently appealing for USD 2.5 million to facilitate the safe and dignified return and reintegration of around 1,000 presumed victims of trafficking (VoTs) for the purpose of forced criminality. These individuals have been stranded along Thai-Myanmar border since February 2025, after escaping exploitative cyber scamming compounds in Myanmar. 

Show threadZecharias ZelalemFeb 17
Here are some samples of AI generated ads used by criminals in Myanmar to prey on desperate, unemployed job seekers across Asia and Africa. "Typing speed" is a giveaway, they want people who can learn preprepared scam scripts with ease. The always pretend the job is in Thailand or Cambodia, knowing that nobody would agree to travel to war-torn Myanmar. The ordeal begins when they are picked up at airports in these countries...then driven into Myanmar. Meta and Telegram are part of the problem.
Show threadJulian Schwarzenbach
@ZekuZelalem Why the exclusion of people from Pakistan, Ethiopia and Nigeria?
Feb 17 at 12:48pmWeb
Show threadJulian SchwarzenbachFeb 17
@ZekuZelalem Sorry, just seen answers above - don't need to reply again!