54 more Bangladeshis return from Cambodia cyber scam centres

At least 54 more Bangladeshi migrants returned to the country on Saturday noon after working under duress at Cambodia cyber scam centres.

They flew on a Thai Airways flight to reach the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, bringing the total number of returnees from Cambodia scam centres to 91 within two days.

These returnees and immigration officials said they were lured into lucrative but false job opportunities in Cambodia, only to be sold to many Chinese-operated cyber scam centres. 

At the centres, the scamsters pile made-up financial burdens and other forms of duress on the newly recruited foreign workers to retain them and force them against their will into certain online scams that target developed world citizens.

The culprits also forcibly withhold the passport and other vital documents to exercise leverage over their victims.

The Cambodia police busted certain scam centres recently and rescued the around 91 Bangladeshi expatriates within two days.

However, the discovery of 91 Bangladeshis points out that many more of such expatriates could still be working under duress. The government and BRAC have repeatedly cautioned Bangladesh expatriate aspirants to be aware of the the cyber scam centres in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Many a time, the trafficking victims and illegal migrants are forced into these countries through the Thai border. Immediately upon entering the countries, the traffickers and smugglers forcibly snatch passports and mobile phones from the victims, cutting them off from the rest of the world while they are forced to operate at scam centres.

BRAC Migration Programme and Youth Platform's Associate Director Shariful Hasan has said that human smugglers and traffickers lure Bangladeshi immigration aspirants with lucrative job offers in the computer and communication sectors in the Southeast Asian countries.

Online promotions are held through emails, fake websites and social media platforms. To gain their trust, the scamsters also provide certifications from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET).

Upon duping them into entering the cyber scam centres, the centres' officials use financial intemidation, threats of bodily injury and firearms to make the victims do illegal scams with Westerners, Shariful Hasan added.

One of the victims who returned on Saturday said that he had received clearance from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training, and his flight departed on 5 December last year. He stayed in transit in Malaysia for two days and then arrived at a Cambodian airport on 7 December.

After he came out of the airport, a Bangladeshi man named Robin Sheikh received him and took him to his house. After staying there for a few days, Robin told him that he would be given a job that day and took him away. On 23 December, he was taken to a company under the pretense of being offered a computer-related job.

When he joined work the next day, he realized that it was a scam platform where people were deceived in order to obtain money from them. When he said that he did not want to do the job, the Chinese boss told him, “Pay the money, take your passport, and leave.”

When he asked how much money he had to pay, the boss replied, “Your broker, Robin Sheikh, sold you to me for $2,085. If you do not pay this amount, you will have to work.”