Myanmar slave trade: Chinese mafia announces bounty on whistleblower

A slave camp in Myanmar. More such buildings are being constructed for fresh victims, said an Indian stuck there

As they grab the headlines for all the wrong reasons, the Chinese mafia that has enslaved scores of Indians along the Myanmar-Thailand border has announced a cash reward of 1 lakh Thai Baht - Rs 2.17 lakh - for information on those who have shared pictures of the fraud factories and passed on the details of their torture methods to the media. The Chinese operators trick the victims with attractive job offers, smuggle them into Myanmar and force them to commit financial frauds.

A victim told mid-day, "The new trick has been adopted by the Chinese captors to discourage victims from passing vital pieces of information to expose their human trafficking activities under the garb of lucrative job offers.

A map of an industrial park in Myanmar, where Indians are held up

This announcement of the reward was done over megaphones in English and Indo-Sino languages, said a victim. "They have also pasted a few posters at the workstations. The message is written in English and probably in Chinese languages. The captors have already snatched the cell phones. I have somehow managed to keep my mobile hidden. Earlier, people would take out time to talk to their relatives at home, but the situation is very very scary as we can't even trust our roommates after the announcement of this cash reward," said the victim.

Also Read: Myanmar slavery scam: Rebels are jailed in neck-deep water

Another victim said the Chinese operators are angry that some people managed to reach out to local military personnel and were rescued. "They have now made the situation worse here." A handful of people also shelled out lakhs of rupees to buy their freedom from the scammers.

Painful journey after rescue

A man from Tamil Nadu who recently returned from Myanmar said the local military abandoned them near a river that is also the international border between Myanmar and Thailand. "After we crossed the river, we were detained by the Thailand police. We were jailed, produced before a local court that slapped us with a fine before allowing us to travel to India….it was a horrible experience," he added.

Expansion plans

After a handful of people managed to earn their freedom, the Chinese captors started facing a manpower crisis, but they are expanding their illegal business, mid-day has learnt. A victim said more buildings are being constructed to house thousands of new victims.

An armed guard on the premises of a fraud factory

"The construction on the premises is going on round the clock. One building is constructed in 10 days," he said. Thai models as well as HR professionals from different countries are also held hostage at the same premises in Myanmar. "After we were tortured by these Chinese monsters, we approached the HR professional who hired us, but we learnt that they are also victims like us," he added.

‘Offers too good to refuse'

Earlier, many victims had told mid-day that the dissenters were made to play a deadly Russian roulette game and then pay their captors heavy bucks to earn freedom. The job offers were too good to refuse, said the innocent victims.

"Many people lost their jobs during the pandemic. There are many people who were carpenters, tea sellers, newspaper vendors, and others who were into menial jobs and never worked on computers or laptops. They were recruited for data entry jobs and these people came here happily as the offer was beyond their expectations," said a victim.

Emmanuel Greene, who was arrested from Lucknow for his alleged role in the job racket

"But everything was clear after they landed here. The people like tea sellers, vendors and carpenters will naturally face difficulties running computers and miss the target. So, they are tortured the most for not living up to the captors' expectations," he added. mid-day has been highlighting the brutal methods used at the slave camps. The victims are being beaten with iron rods which at times are shoved into their bodies. They are also being given electric shocks. Those who fail to meet the target or refuse to scam others are kept in a water jail for 24 hrs without food, drink or rest. Many have lost hope. "We don't know if we will ever be rescued from here, as the Chinese monsters have bribed everyone to run their cyber fraud factories," said a victim.

‘Heavy-duty punishment'

Another victim said, "If we miss the target, we are handed over to their own army. These armed men are always inebriated. They ask the victims to carry 20-litre water cans on each shoulder to complete 100 sit-ups, failing which the monsters whip the captives badly."

Not just Indians, but many Chinese nationals are also held hostage at these premises. "They [Chinese] are also equally treated like captives belonging to different countries including India. We request the Government of India to please rescue us…we can't pay them a heavy amount to earn our freedom…," said a victim.

Rs 1L
Monthly salary offered to some of the victims

5L
Rupees spent by a few victims for safe return