Bangkok, Thailand — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is urgently appealing for USD 2.5 million to facilitate the safe and dignified return and reintegration of around 1,000 presumed victims of trafficking (VoTs) for the purpose of forced criminality. These individuals have been stranded along Thai-Myanmar border since February 2025, after escaping exploitative cyber scamming compounds in Myanmar. 

Last week, IOM staff was at the border ensuring assistance to Ghanaian and Namibian nationals who had been waiting for safe passage home for months. Since February, IOM in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand and embassy consulates, has facilitated the return of 67 individuals back to their home countries. In 2024, IOM supported the voluntary return of 316 VoTs  rescued from scamming centres.  

“These victims have endured extreme forms of exploitation and coercion. While they were able to escape from the clutches of the traffickers and scamming compounds, these individuals now face prolonged uncertainty in Myanmar, waiting in difficult conditions for assistance to return home,” said Géraldine Ansart, Chief of Mission at IOM Thailand. 

IOM is working closely with the Royal Thai Government, embassies, civil society and other protection partners in Myanmar and Thailand to assess needs and facilitate voluntary, safe and dignified return for those stranded along the border areas. But without additional funding to support direct assistance and travel home, the victims of trafficking are at higher risk of being re-trafficked, with both conflict and the recent earthquake adding uncertainty to foreign nationals stranded within Myanmar. 

“We have a narrow window to act. These survivors need an urgent and safe pathway home and a chance to rebuild their lives,” added Ansart. “We remain committed to ensuring that all victims are able to return home safely and given the opportunity to recover with dignity.” 

The presumed victims — including men and women from more than 35 different countries — were trafficked through deceptive online job offers and coerced into carrying out online fraud, romance scams, cryptocurrency investment schemes, and other cybercrimes in the scamming compounds. Reported forms of coercion included threats of violence, confinement, torture and psychological abuse. Most are now being held in camps managed by various ethnic armed organizations in Myanmar, living in precarious conditions with limited access to food, water and bedding, and need immediate protection, shelter and assistance to return home safely. 

Trafficking for forced criminality has emerged as a fast-evolving trend in Southeast Asia, where criminal syndicates operate large-scale online scam centres. This phenomenon is growing in scale not only across Southeast Asia but is now having a marked impact worldwide, targeting victims from Canada, the United States, Australia, Europe and Asia.

Victims are lured via social media and recruitment websites with promises of lucrative jobs and higher income. Majority of the individuals reported having arrived in Thailand, only to be trafficked across border into Myanmar through irregular channels. Many were moved multiple times between countries and guarded compounds, losing access to their documents and communication. 

"I was offered a job as a customer care support in Thailand and promised a salary of USD 1,000 per month, with annual leave, accommodation and return travel once I completed the job. But when I arrived, the reality was completely different,” shared one of the survivors from Namibia. 

“I gave a copy of my passport to the recruiter via WhatsApp, and they arranged my travel from Namibia to Bangkok.  But once I arrived, I found myself in Myanmar without my knowledge and trapped in a scamming centre with no way out. I didn’t receive any salary for the first two months and was paid only USD 300 per month after that. I was forced to create fake online shops under conditions I never imagined. I prayed to return home every day." 

“The bilateral cooperation between Thailand and Myanmar as well as countries of origin, to ensure people can return home, has been good to see,” emphasized Daihei Mochizuki, IOM Chief of Mission in Myanmar. “It is our duty to ensure the funds are there to support the continued efforts to repatriate those in situations of real vulnerability, and contribute evidence to the global fight against trafficking in persons.” 

Under the Thailand Response Plan for Cross-Border Flows from Myanmar, IOM had initially appealed for USD 1.4 million in September 2024 to support presumed victims of trafficking and vulnerable migrants. To date, only 15 per cent of the appealed amount has been received, which has helped IOM to assist over 100 victims. 

IOM urgently calls on governments, donors, the private sector, and protection partners to mobilize resources to support the safe return and reintegration of hundreds of young people, who find themselves victims of trafficking. Without immediate funding and coordination, hundreds of potential victims are at risk of further harm, prolonged displacement and re-trafficking. 

IOM’s immediate response plan includes: 

• Provision of emergency shelter, food and non-food items 

• Predeparture counseling, and travel documentation support 

• Provision of interpretation services and support for victim screening  

• Safe cross-border transportation and voluntary return 

• Psychosocial support and trauma care 

• Post-arrival reintegration assistance, including economic and livelihood support 

For more information, please contact: 

In Bangkok, Itayi Viriri (iviriri@iom.int), Among Resi (aresi@iom.int) or Anushma Shrestha (anshrestha@iom.int)      

In Yangon, Christos Christodoulides (cdoulides@iom.int)