DHAKA; Around 2.30am one night, a brief power outage gave Tofail Ahmed a chance to escape the compound where he had been held for nearly two months.
“I climbed over an 11-foot wall. I was injured in several places, but I kept running. I ran about three and a half kilometres barefoot before taking shelter under a tree,” he recalled.
He had spent one month and 27 days inside a Chinese-run online scam compound in Cambodia, where, he alleged, he was given electric shocks and denied food when he failed to meet work targets.
Tofail paid Tk 7.70 lakh to recruiters in Bangladesh for what he believed was a data entry job. Instead, he alleged, they sold him to the compound for around US$2,000.
His case reflects a wider pattern, as Cambodian authorities deported 3,364 Bangladeshis between September 1, 2023, and September 13 this year, with 852 identified as linked to online scams, according to Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior.
But being linked to a scam operation does not necessarily mean someone joined it willingly. The ministry’s statement did not specify how many of the deported Bangladeshis were trafficking victims forced into criminal activity.
Tofail travelled to Cambodia on April 30 this year after obtaining a Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET) smart card. Although he had been promised a data entry job, the invitation letter used for his recruitment mentioned construction work.
On arrival, he was taken at night to a location around 300 kilometres away. Only after reaching the compound did he realise it was an online scam operation.
“I told the people who sent me that I would not work in a scam centre. But they said I had no choice and must continue working,” he said.
Tofail was allegedly told he would have to pay US$2,000 to be released. He worked night shifts from 10pm to 10am.
“They tortured us physically and mentally. We were given electric shocks and denied food when we failed to meet their targets,” he said.
He eventually got his passport back by telling his supervisor he needed it to open a bank account. The power cut came soon afterwards.
He said he later arranged US$20 from his family in Bangladesh and moved to another location, fearing that those running the compound would kill him if they caught him. The recruiters had promised a one-year visa and work permit but never provided the documents, leaving him without legal immigration status.
He later learnt through Facebook that the Bangladesh embassy in Thailand had arranged a waiver of overstay fines. He somehow obtained the waiver, bought a ticket and returned home on June 14 this year. BRAC’s Migration Programme has since been assisting him.
According to BMET data cited by BRAC’s Migration Programme, 15,963 Bangladeshis received employment clearances for Cambodia between January 1 last year and September 30 this year.
Recruiters have lured Bangladeshis with promises of jobs as computer operators, data entry workers, and customer service staff, offering monthly salaries of Tk 50,000 to more than Tk 1 lakh, according to BRAC.
Many were paid Tk 2 lakh to Tk 7 lakh, only to be confined in guarded compounds, where their passports and phones were confiscated, and they were forced to take part in online scams.
Shariful Hasan, associate director of BRAC’s Migration Programme and Youth Platform, described the exploitation as “cyber slavery”.
BRAC reported that by June, it had repatriated 583 Bangladeshis from Cambodia, including 109 rescued from scam compounds.
Hundreds more remain stranded there. The Bangladesh mission in Thailand had received requests for help from 1,796 Bangladeshis seeking to return from Cambodia. According to BRAC, around 300 to 400 had returned, leaving an estimated 1,300 to 1,400 waiting at that time.
On October 20, another 30 Bangladeshis returned home after being detained in Cambodia while trying to leave. The Bangladesh mission intervened, and they were released.
“I want journalists to speak out so that people like me, particularly those from villages, do not fall into the hands of brokers who promise one job and force them into something completely different,” Tofail said. - The Daily Star/ANN
