Asean’s war against human trafficking

After drug dealing, human trafficking is the second largest criminal industry in the world. The International Labour Organization's latest report —Global Estimates of Modern Slavery—said 50 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021. Of these victims, 28 million were in forced labor and 22 million were trapped in forced marriage.

The number of people in modern slavery has risen significantly in the last five years. The report said 10 million more people were in modern slavery in 2021 compared to 2016 global estimates. Women and children remain disproportionately vulnerable. Modern slavery occurs in almost every country in the world, and cuts across ethnic, cultural and religious lines. More than half (52 percent) of all forced labor and a quarter of all forced marriages can be found in upper-middle income or high-income countries.

The most common types of human trafficking are sex trafficking, forced labor, and debt bondage. Forced labor, also known as involuntary servitude, is the biggest sector of trafficking in the world, according to the US State Department.

Criminal groups are now using social media to recruit victims who are lured by false promises of high-paying jobs. In Asia, victims' groups have cited Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar as key trafficking destinations.

Chinese criminal syndicates have been accused of trafficking tens of thousands of Asians into all three countries where the victims are forced to work an array of fraudulent online activities. These include romance scams, entrapment through video calls and secret recordings of lewd acts, credit card scams, phishing, and fraudulent financial offers.

In March, a group of 35 NGOs urged the Cambodian government to urgently address “a crisis of forced labor, slavery and torture” after warnings were issued by five Asian embassies. In July, the United States dropped Cambodia to Tier 3, the lowest rank on the US human trafficking index, for its failure to deal with the issue.

The Department of Migrant Workers early this month said it has rescued and assisted over 90 Filipino workers who are victims of human trafficking in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia. DMW Secretary Susan Ople said assistance has been provided to the victims, which includes psychosocial counseling, financial assistance, and the filing of cases against their recruiters in coordination with the Philippine National Police.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros earlier exposed this racket where Filipino workers are promised jobs in Thailand, but were instead transported to Shwe Kokko Special Economic Zone or Yatai New City in Myanmar to become “crypto scammers” under an alleged Chinese syndicate.

Ople said most of the recruitment for the illegal scheme is done online by attracting the victims to work as call center agents in “techno parks” located in Thailand, Vietnam, or Malaysia.

Based on her conversation with the victims, Ople said the so-called “techno parks” are located in remote areas. The victims are brought to a small airport in northern Thailand, and then they go on an eight-hour journey to cross the border to Myanmar. Ople said coordination is ongoing with relevant agencies to rescue those who still need help.

Support groups responsible for victims of human trafficking are urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to intervene in the affairs of its member states in a bid to end the scourge of human trafficking, which has flourished throughout this year. For starters, they want an Asean Desk established in Malaysia, staffed by police from each of the 10 Asean members to collect and share information, crack down on syndicates, stop people from traveling abroad for fake jobs, and apply pressure on governments to act.

A united effort is needed among Asean members to fight human trafficking because the impact of this deplorable crime goes beyond individual victims—it undermines the safety and security of all nations it touches.