'Further victimisation': US urges softer tack towards Asian nationals tricked into becoming scammers

The United States has urged a more humane approach to people tricked into the scam trade since they are also victims of trafficking, as a massive cyber fraud epidemic continues to roil Asia.

The annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP) - released on Thursday by the US State Department - urged governments to provide survivors of trafficking protection from "inappropriate punishment and further victimisation".

The report comes as experts say tens of thousands of young men and women remain captives of scam gangs who use them to target vulnerable people online from Asia and beyond with Ponzi schemes, bogus cryptocurrency investments as well as fictitious promises of romance.

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These vast scam operations, often run by Chinese-dominated crime syndicates, deceive young, tech savvy workers with fake job offers luring them to "scam factories" in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines with high paying jobs which turn out to be scamming.

Some of those who make it out - often by paying thousands of dollars in release fees - have recounted stories of prolonged detention for crossing borders illegally and then prosecution for being involved in the scam trade.

"These individuals are often held liable and face various forms of punishment including fines, detention, prosecution, conviction, and deportation," the report said.

But the consequences of punishing these victims undermines larger anti-trafficking efforts as fear of punishment sways victims from seeking protection and help, the report added.

The issue is complicated as Asian authorities battle a scourge that is sweeping up hundreds of millions of dollars from its victims.

Several scam agents in Laos and Thailand previously told This Week in Asia that they knew what they were getting into when they travelled to the scam centres. But tens of thousands of others are feared to have been tricked and trafficked into becoming scammers, experts say.

The TIP report has a four-tiered system based on governmental efforts to meet the US' standards for elimination of human trafficking stated in the country's Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).

Singapore and the Philippines were placed on the highest rank, Tier 1, while countries including China, Cambodia and Afghanistan were in Tier 3, the lowest rating indicating that no significant efforts have been made to combat human trafficking.

There are 106 Tier 2 jurisdictions in this year's report, including Bangladesh, Japan, Indonesia and India.

Malaysia moved up from Tier 3 last year to the Tier 2 watchlist, meaning that while it has not met the TVPA's minimum standards, it has made significant efforts in the past year to comply with them.

The report indicated that Malaysia made key achievements in the past year by initiating more trafficking investigations, prosecuting and convicting more traffickers, and persecuting complicit officials.

However, more work is required in prosecuting labour traffickers in the country's palm oil sector and glove manufacturing industry.

The report also said that efforts to prosecute trafficking cases involving complicit officials and forced labour crimes have to intensify, and in expanding protection for domestic workers.

In a speech marking the release of the report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasised the importance of collaboration among governments, NGOs, civil society, and private industries, including tech, to combat sex and labour trafficking.

"The United States is committed to combating human trafficking, because it represents an attack on human rights and freedoms.

"It violates the universal right of every person to have autonomy. Today, more than 27 million people around the world are denied that right," he said.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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