The Collapse of USAID Is Already Fueling Human Trafficking and Slavery at Scammer Compounds
55 years, 2 months ago

The Collapse of USAID Is Already Fueling Human Trafficking and Slavery at Scammer Compounds

Wired  

As Elon Musk’s DOGE team continues to rampage through United States federal agencies, Trump administration efforts to eliminate the United States Agency for International Development seem to be furthest along. The impacts of the agency’s dismantling on humanitarian relief, public health, and human rights work, combined with the wider 90-day State Department pause on foreign aid payments, are already far-reaching and severe around the world. Sources tell WIRED that the situation is also impacting anti-human-trafficking work targeted at addressing forced labor compounds that fuel digital fraud like investment scams. The funding cuts and pauses have immediately made it harder for people to safely escape scam compounds, according to half a dozen sources working to combat scams and trafficking. A US State Department webpage details more than $272 million in funding provided to fight human trafficking around the world, with Southeast Asia programs that include investigative efforts, survivor protection, and more.

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Cuts to US foreign aid are hurting efforts to tackle human trafficking at scam compounds. Americans may pay the price
2 weeks, 3 days ago

Cuts to US foreign aid are hurting efforts to tackle human trafficking at scam compounds. Americans may pay the price

CNN  

CNN — It wasn’t long after landing in Bangkok, Thailand, in the summer of 2023 that Jalil Muyeke realized that something was terribly wrong. A spokesperson for the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons told CNN via email that “all U.S. foreign assistance is currently undergoing a Foreign Assistance Review.” “The US government was one of …

China pushes neighboring countries to rein in scams after rare public outcry
2 months ago

China pushes neighboring countries to rein in scams after rare public outcry

Live Mint  

Authorities in Beijing are ramping up pressure on neighbors to rein in cyberscams after the high-profile kidnapping of a young Chinese actor who says he was trafficked into a criminal enclave in Myanmar. The officials from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China pledged to arrest ringleaders, shut down so-called scam dens and free victims of human trafficking, according to …

UN says hundreds of thousands trafficked into SE Asia online scam centres
1 year, 6 months ago

UN says hundreds of thousands trafficked into SE Asia online scam centres

Al Jazeera  

The fast-growing scam centres are generating billions of US dollars in revenue each year, the report said. Hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked by criminal gangs and forced to work in scam centres and other illegal online operations that have sprung up across Southeast Asia in recent years, the United Nations said in a report on Tuesday. The …

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