For a few weeks ago, thousands of people who were freed from scam centers in Myanmar started to appear. This after Thailand, under pressure from China, broke off electricity and telecommunications connections to the facilities at the border. But many who were rescued are now in limbo.
I swear to God, I need help, says Mike, as he calls himself, to BBC.
Now he is being held in a camp by the armed militia that "rescued" him and other workers. Mike, originally from Ethiopia, came to Myanmar believing he had gotten a well-paid job in Thailand. Instead, he was forced to work long hours every day to swindle people online.
Love scams and money laundering
He is one of an estimated 100,000 people who have been lured to work in fake factories along Myanmar's border with Thailand. On site, they are forced to perform criminal activities online, everything from love scams and crypto scams to money laundering and illegal gambling.
It was the worst experience of my life. Of course, I got beaten, but trust me, I've seen much worse things happen to other people, says Mike.
Several of those who managed to escape testify about torture. One of them is Aryian from Bangladesh.
They gave us a target every week, $5,000. If you didn't manage to get the money, the bosses gave us two electric shocks, or so we were locked in a dark room without windows. But if you earned a lot of money, then the bosses were happy with us, he says to BBC.
If the workers manage to escape or get rescued, they have few places to go. Their passports have often been confiscated by the scam center bosses. Some are only released if their families pay large ransoms.
Don't want to let in
Thailand doesn't want to take in thousands of people into the country that they then have to take care of for an indefinite period. Before they are taken across the border, the authorities try to sort out who are victims of human trafficking and who have committed crimes.
The fact that the workers are from several different countries also makes it difficult, as some countries do very little to help their citizens get home.
About 130 of the 260 rescued from a center in February this year were from Ethiopia – but the country has no embassy in Bangkok.
If Mike doesn't get to cross the border to Thailand soon, he's afraid the militia that freed him will send him back to the scam center, where he risks being punished.
I just want to go home. I just want to go home to my country, that's all I'm asking for, he says to BBC.
The victims who are forced into online scams are often recruited through fake job ads for qualified professions. They are offered help with transportation and, in some cases, necessary documents to be able to travel.
The people are taken, sometimes via temporary accommodation, to the fenced-in facilities where they are supposed to work. There, they are monitored by often armed security guards and the human smugglers take away the victims' passports and mobile phones.
Access to food and water is limited and living conditions are often cramped and unsanitary.
The human smugglers claim that the victims owe them a debt for, for example, travel, training, and living expenses, and also fines for not meeting their targets in work.
The purpose is for the victims to commit criminal acts to generate profits for the organizations that run the entire setup.
This by, for example, luring other innocent people into fake relationships online, to swindle them out of money.
The criminal scam centers generate annual profits of billions of dollars. Most along the Myanmar-Thailand border are run by Chinese scammers and game operators who have taken advantage of the lawlessness in this part of Myanmar.
