WAfter arriving in Bangkok from Nairobi last December, Duncan Okindo sensed something was amiss as he began his job as a customer service agent. The 26-year-old had previously sold cattle, borrowed funds from a friend, and used his savings to pay the recruitment agency 200,000 Kenyan Shillings (£1,150).

“I thought it was a positive step to leave [the country] and seek opportunities to support my family,” Okindo recalls.

Unfortunately, when a van collected Okindo and six other Kenyans at the airport, the driver took their passports and falsely informed Thai officials that they were tourists. After several hours of travel, they were taken to a boat to cross a river, confused and exhausted.

They were then taken to Myanmar. Walled compounds guarded by rebel militias awaited them.

For the next three months, he was forced to send thousands of messages from fake social media accounts, posing as a wealthy American investor to defraud U.S. real estate agents through cryptocurrency scams.

When he failed to hit his daily targets, he faced beatings, confinement in a freezing room, and sometimes went without food for up to two days. He prayed for the safety of others who suffered at the hands of the Chinese gangsters operating the center, wishing they could avoid the electrocution and sexual torture he witnessed.

“It was hell on Earth,” says Okindo. “I felt completely shattered.”

Eventually, he was released from Myanmar’s KK Park, a compound reflecting the rising number of Kenyans, Ugandans, and Ethiopians trafficked to Southeast Asia as criminal organizations look to expand the East African labor pool.

Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar, there’s been a surge in cyber slavery compounds, taking advantage of the country’s weakened governance and fostering illegal activities. The number of such centers along the Thai border has escalated from 11 to 26 in just four years.

The United Nations estimates that at least 120,000 individuals are trapped in cyberscam compounds, and human trafficking experts and rescue organizations in Myanmar have noted that crackdowns have yielded minimal results. These centers are often run by Chinese criminal gangs, with some colluding with Myanmar’s military along the borders.

Okindo considers himself fortunate. The mission to find and free trafficked individuals involves coordination among multiple governments, militias, and police forces. Thai officials have successfully promoted the release of thousands of trafficking victims, while East African governments are increasingly collaborating with Thai authorities willing to engage with Myanmar’s junta and militia forces at the border.

Victims can only be released into Thai custody if their home country agrees to take responsibility for their repatriation and the associated costs.

Since 2020, the Southeast Asian cyberslavery industry has ensnared hundreds of thousands, forcing individuals into what is colloquially termed “slaughtering the pigs,” a brutal way to build trust with scam targets before executing fraud. Initially aimed at Chinese and Taiwanese victims, the industry has expanded to Southeast Asians, Indians, and now, Africans.

The criminal syndicate is shifting focus to fraudulent victims in the U.S. and Europe, with China working to prevent citizens from becoming targets, an expert informed The Guardian.

This has led various human trafficking networks to search for recruits with English and technical skills, including East Africans. Estimates now suggest thousands are trapped in Southeast Asian compounds, according to Benedict Hoffman, a representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

As awareness grows among citizens in various countries, recruitment becomes increasingly challenging. “It’s much harder these days to enlist large numbers of individuals from India,” Hoffmann notes. “This is why we’re observing a rise in victims from Africa.”

Between January and April, the Kenyan government successfully repatriated 175 citizens from Myanmar; Roseline Njogu, the Director of the Diaspora Issues Department in Kenya’s State Department, noted that a substantial group of Kenyans, about 150 individuals trafficked from across Southeast Asia, was rescued between 2022 and 2024. This issue also extends to Ethiopia and Uganda.

In Kenya, approximately 80% of the population is under 35, and the unemployment rate is alarmingly high. The government under President William Ruto has actively promoted labor exports. Investigations indicate that four in ten young Kenyans are considering moving abroad.

Recruiters exploiting modern slavery are capitalizing on government migration promotion, targeting Kenya through online job advertisements, social media, texts, and in-person visits to rural areas, states Mutuk Nguri, CEO of the Counter Human Traffic Trust.

The government acknowledges its precarious position, according to Nguri. The Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Issues did not respond to requests for comments.

Thailand has aided thousands, but repatriation presents its own challenges and costs. Thai officials must establish that workers are indeed victims of human trafficking before releasing them to their home countries.

When Susan Wahura* was rescued from a Myanmar romance scam operation in 2022, she spent a month moving between four Thai detention centers before realizing she was trafficked and initiating legal steps to obtain freedom.

“I spent time in a solitary cell before accepting my status as a trafficking victim which ultimately led to my freedom,” shares 32-year-old Wahura.

Neither Uganda nor Ethiopia maintain embassies in Thailand, complicating their ability to identify victims in Myanmar, currently engulfed in civil conflict. Earlier this year, several Ugandans and Ethiopians found themselves stranded at the Myanmar-Thai border as repatriation efforts stalled.

The fraud syndicate is exploiting vulnerabilities in East Africa’s diplomatic representation to deter victims from seeking help, asserts Jason Tower, a global initiative against transnational organized crime.

“Ultimately, that’s the objective of the scam syndicate—to transform individuals into profit-generating machines, acting as high-capacity con artists,” states Tower.

Nevertheless, despite repatriation efforts by East African nations, deceptive recruitment agencies keep advertising fake job opportunities. Both Okindo and Wahura continue to share guardian messages with Kenyans contemplating moves to Southeast Asia.

In May, Okindo, who holds a mass communication diploma, filed a lawsuit against the recruitment agency and its staff, accusing them of conscription into slavery and human trafficking. A Nairobi court has issued a temporary injunction preventing the overseas employment of labor.

Since his return, Okindo has spoken publicly about his experiences through television, TikTok, and other social media outlets, connecting stranded victims with legal support, aid organizations, and ambassadors for their recovery.

His aim is to raise awareness about malicious institutions and false job opportunities while encouraging victims to seek justice.

“I’ve enlightened many individuals,” he asserts. “Though I sometimes feel scared discussing it, I share my story, knowing that speaking out could help save others.”

*Name changed to protect identity