KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians enticed by syndicates offering lucrative salaries for jobs in neighbouring countries are caught in a "debt bondage" net where they eventually end up paying anywhere between RM50,000 and RM100,000 each to be released.
The money, they are told, is ostensibly compensation for the costs involved in bringing them over, as well as for "supporting" their living in the country in which they end up in.
As a result, this debt bondage leads to the victims having to work without pay. What is worse is that they are at risk of being "sold" to another syndicate.
If the victims, for any reason, are unable to pay off their debts, then the syndicates would contact their families in Malaysia for payment, Berita Harian was made to understand.
Malaysian International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) adviser Tan Sri Musa Hassan said debt bondage was among the situations which have led to Malaysians being ensnared by human trafficking syndicates in other countries, whether they had voluntarily gone there or had been cheated into doing so.
He said MHO had received many requests for help from victims' family members to help get their relatives free from the clutches of syndicates who had contacted them for payment.
"If the victim does not want to cooperate with whatever scam the syndicate wants them to run, then all sorts of abuse will be dished out to them, including torture or, worse still, being sold to another 'scam' syndicate.
"The victims who have had enough and beg to be released are told to pay 'compensation'. This is purportedly for the cost of the flight tickets, accommodation and their food and drinks."
Musa, who is a former inspector-general of police and president of non-governmental organisation Malaysia Community Crime Care, said there were two scenarios in which Malaysians would find themselves becoming victims of the syndicates.
The first category, he said, was those who voluntarily joined, while the second involved those who were cheated as they were fooled into believing they had been offered lucrative and legitimate jobs overseas.
"Usually, those who voluntarily go will find themselves in debt bondage because they did not come up with the airfare for flying to the foreign country."
Musa said the human trafficking situation in Malaysia was growing even more worrying and action needed to be taken by the government, considering how easily Malaysians were able to travel to other Asean countries.
"Sterner action and checks need to be carried out by the police and Immigration Department, especially on our citizens who are leaving the country for the first time.
"It is high time that the government comes up with a travel notice to our citizens to always be wary. In fact, laws for travel to other Asean countries need to be tightened as currently there are no visa requirements."
Malaysians being human trafficking victims matches the United Nations report on forced labour and online scams in Asean, which was published in August.
The UN report said forced labour due to debt bondage was on the rise, with excuses being the syndicates had to pay for the costs of flying the victims over, quarantine upon arrival, training and supporting their living expenses. Another excuse was that the victims had underperformed in their jobs.
The costs, the report said, would increase when one syndicate sells the victim to another, whether within the same country or outside of it.
It said there were times when family members of the victims would be contacted with a ransom demand, adding that syndicate members would show them pictures of the victims being tortured.
The UN report said the victims would be picked up by syndicate members as soon as they arrived in the country and would be taken either to a temporary accommodation or straight to the online scam operations centre.
They would be closely watched by heavily-armed syndicate members and have their passports and personal items seized.
"There are reports that victims are forced to work in scam operations or sold as foreign labourers."
It added that the victims had no freedom to move around, even to different floors in the building.
"They are chained to their tables and barred from communicating with friends or family."
The UN deemed this scenario as "detention incommunicado", where the victims were denied access to family, lawyers or any outsiders.
The report stated that food was often scarce, water was not potable and the victims were forced to live in unhygienic conditions. They were also forced to work long hours, while access to medical attention was limited, in some cases, leading to death.
The victims were also subjected to torture, as well as inhumane and derogatory treatment, including threats, for the slightest infringement.
Among the most common abuse suffered by victims were insults, beatings, , electric shocks and solitary confinement.
"Reports were also received about sexual violence, including gang rape, as well as sex trafficking, usually as a form of punishment, for not meeting targets."
It said at least 120,000 people were believed to be held in Myanmar by online scam syndicates, adding that such scams were estimated to bring in billions of US dollars.
It has been reported that, since 2021, such scams have caused US$7.8 billion in losses globally.