16 Indians enslaved at Myanmar-Thailand border

“Mir told me that when the recruiter made a video call, he showed a beautiful villa with a swimming pool and several amenities. He was told this was the workplace and encouraged to travel as quickly as possible to Bangkok or someone else would take the job.”

“When he eventually did make contact, it was a hurried and scared phone call to inform that he was confined somewhere near the Thailand-Myanmar border, based on the location his phone showed. Then there was no call again for several days. A few days ago, he called to say his phone had been taken away for a while. He told his mother and another relative about the ordeal that he and two other youths from Hyderabad were facing. He said that several Indian youths were trapped in a similar situation, and asked to be rescued.”

“On January 16, he made a distress call asking to be rescued. He was confined with several others at a call centre that was scamming people, and when he and others refused, they were beaten and abused.”

“I have received a distressing message: at least 16 Indian nationals, including three from Hyderabad, were promised jobs in Thailand but taken to the Myanmar-Thailand border and enslaved. They are forced to work 18-20 hours daily, physically punished, and deprived of passports, phones, and medical facilities.”

“Those who were rescued by Thai police and returned home said that they were manhandled, abused and threatened if they refused to do the work, which is basically cybercrime. They are given daily targets, and if they fail, their passports and phones are seized.”

“They were forced to commit online fraud from these dubious call centres. In the second week of January, 22 more Andhra Pradesh youths were rescued by the CID in coordination with the Centre and Thailand officials.”