According to the United Nations, hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked across Southeast Asia by criminal enterprises and forced to work in a burgeoning world of online scams.
Romance investment schemes, crypto fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling have skyrocketed since the pandemic, fueling illicit activities across the region. Now at least 120,000 people across Myanmar may be held in situations where they are forced to commit such crimes, with an estimated 100,000 in Cambodia, according to a UN Human Rights Office report. published Tuesday.