“Modern slavery”: Indonesians prisoners of cybercriminal networks

Budi, an Indonesian fruit seller, was looking for a better future when he responded to an IT job posting in Cambodia. He ultimately found himself trapped in a growing criminal network of lucrative online scams.

“When I got there, I was told to read a script”confides this 26-year-old man to AFP, on condition of anonymity. “In fact, we were asked to set up scams. »

In a building surrounded by barbed wire and monitored by armed guards, Budi’s endless days – 14 hours straight behind a screen – were punctuated by threats and sleepless nights.

After six weeks, he only received $390 out of the $800 initially promised.

In recent years, thousands of Indonesians have been lured by attractive job offers in various countries in Southeast Asia only to find themselves trapped in international networks specializing in online scams.

Many have been rescued and repatriated, but dozens more still languish in cyber scam factories, forced to scour social media sites and apps in search of victims.

Nanda, a food stall worker, recounts how her husband flew to Thailand in mid-2022 after his employer went bankrupt, jumping at the chance to earn 20 million rupees (1,195 euros) a month in an IT job recommended by a friend.

But when he arrived in Bangkok, a Malaysian took him across the border with neighboring Burma, along with five others, to the town of Hpa Lu, where he was forced to work more than 15 hours a day, under threat of beatings if he fell asleep on his keyboard.

“He was electrocuted, beaten, but he didn’t tell me in detail, to stop me from thinking about it too much”adds this 46-year-old woman.

Her husband was then sold and transferred to another location. But he was able to transmit to his wife scraps of information about his living conditions, during the brief moments when he was allowed to use his phone, confiscated the rest of the time by his captors.

The rare communications, sometimes in coded words, are often the only clues that help activist groups and authorities locate sites before launching rescue operations.

“Totally inhumane”

Between 2020 and September 2024, Jakarta repatriated more than 4,700 Indonesians forced into online fraud operations from eight countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, according to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But at least 90 Indonesians remain trapped in these networks in Burma’s Myawaddy region, says Judha Nugraha, director of citizen protection at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, adding that the figure could be higher.

An Indonesian woman whose husband is still trapped in Burma says she has begged authorities for help, but with little success.

“It’s totally inhumane, 16 to 20 hours of work per day, without pay… and always subject to intimidation, punishment”confides this 40-year-old housewife, who also requested anonymity.

“There are various conditions… which will affect the speed of processing of files”replies Mr. Judha, referring specifically to the networks of Myawaddy, in Burma, where rescue and repatriation are made even more complicated by the conflict in the region.

AFP was unable to reach either the Burmese junta or a spokesperson for the Karen National Army, a militia that controls the territory around Hpa Lu, near Myawaddy, for comment.

Cambodia, for its part, indicates that it is committed to taking measures against these fraudsters, but also urges Indonesia and other countries to launch awareness campaigns to inform citizens about these risks.

“Don’t wait until there is a problem to point the finger at this or that country. This is not a solution at all”Chou Bun Eng, vice-president of the Cambodian National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, told AFP.

“We will not let these cybercrime sites spread”she added, affirming that international cooperation is essential to stop these groups, because “criminals are not ignorant: they move from one place to another after committing their criminal activities”.

“Hell”

According to United Nations officials, the prisoners of these cybercriminal networks experience a real ” hell “.

“This amounts to modern slavery”explains Hanindha Kristy, member of the NGO Beranda Migran (“Reception migrants”), who regularly receives calls for help from trapped Indonesians.

Budi was able to escape after being transferred to another site in the Cambodian border town of Poipet.

But today he remains haunted by the scams he was forced to commit. “Guilt will stay with me all my life, because when we extort what belongs to others, it’s like something gets stuck in my heart”.