Trafficked into fraud: An African crisis situation in Cambodia

Southeast Asia has long emerged as a major hub of highly organized online fraud operations, targeting people all around the world.

According to the United Nations, these operations generate tens of billions of dollars annually, having long surpassed the illegal drug trade as the most profitable activity for criminal networks, as reported by the United States Institute of Peace.

However, those who fall prey to scams and other fraudulent activities aren't the only victims of these criminal rings; alone in Southeast Asia, the scam industry is powered by at least 300,000 trafficked workers from 66 countries. They are routinely subjected to torture, sexual abuse and forced labor, according to a recent UN Human Rights report.

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African nationals now form the largest group of those trafficked to and stranded in countries like Myanmar and Cambodia , without any viable pathway to go back home, says the NGO Freedom Collaborative.

In Cambodia, one of the main obstacles to helping stranded Africans return home is that many countries on the continent, such as Uganda, Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria, lack consular representation.

"Some countries have zero interest," says Montse Ferrer, co-regional director of Amnesty International, who also blames the home countries for their inaction.

"They're not even picking up the phone, let alone providing the paperwork or the money for them to go back."