Live Click here to searchsearchSign upOPINIONOPINION, Opinion|Human TraffickingEducated? Skilled? Ambitious? Traffickers are looking for youYoung jobseekers are being recruited into scam compounds.
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Urgent action is needed to disrupt these trafficking schemes.
It sounds like a great opportunity for a young graduate, but it is the bait in a trafficking operation.
The advertised job does not exist. On arrival, the person’s passport is taken. They are moved to a compound they cannot leave and are forced to run online scams: impersonating strangers, building false relationships and persuading people thousands of kilometres away to send money.
Those who miss their targets may be beaten, starved or placed in solitary confinement. Their families may sell land or take on debt to raise money to pay for their release.
Ouvi versões desta história em primeira mão durante uma visita recente ao Ruanda, onde conheci dois sobreviventes que foram traficados por meio de ofertas de emprego fraudulentas.
Eles falavam inglês fluentemente e se sentiam confortáveis com a tecnologia.
They had been looking for the same thing as millions of other young people: a good job and the chance to build a better future.
Essas qualidades os tornavam valiosos para os traficantes. Eles receberam roteiros e foram forçados a se passar por mulheres online, construir relacionamentos românticos com pessoas na Europa e persuadi-las a enviar dinheiro.
Today, after returning home with support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), they are working alongside us to warn communities and other young people.
Eles estão usando algumas das mesmas plataformas nas quais os traficantes procuram recrutas para ajudar outros a reconhecerem o perigo.
Their experience exposes a crime that creates victims on both sides of the screen. One person is held under threat and forced to deceive. Another has their trust exploited and may lose their savings.
At least 300,000 people are estimated to have been trafficked or coerced into scam compounds across Southeast Asia. People from at least 80 countries and territories have been identified among them.
A ameaça também está se estendendo mais para a África. A OIM e seus parceiros governamentais estão identificando um número crescente de vítimas de países como Etiópia, Quênia, Uganda e Tanzânia.
During recent visits to Tanzania and Rwanda, leaders told me of fraudulent job offers reaching young graduates and other jobseekers through social media.
Essas redes são globais por design. O recrutamento pode ocorrer em um país, viajar por outro e a exploração em um terceiro. As fraudes podem atingir pessoas em qualquer lugar.
When an operation is disrupted, it moves and starts again elsewhere.
As respostas do governo costumam ser divididas. As autoridades trabalhistas identificam um recrutador sem licença. Os oficiais de fronteira apontam viagens suspeitas.
A polícia detecta fraude online. As equipes consulares observam cidadãos presos no exterior.
Traffickers exploit the gaps between them.
These gaps need to be closed. Governments should provide trusted ways to verify overseas employers, recruiters, contracts and visas. Labour, border, police and consular authorities need to share alerts quickly and investigate the networks together.
Technology companies have an equally important role. Fraudulent recruitment happens openly on social media, messaging services and job platforms. Companies should detect and remove deceptive advertisements, make them easy to report and preserve evidence that can help identify those responsible.
Campanhas de conscientização desenvolvidas com sobreviventes devem alcançar jovens nesses mesmos espaços.
Above all, people forced to run scams must be treated as victims of trafficking. Some escape the compounds only to be detained or prosecuted for immigration offences or crimes committed under threat.
Ninguém deve ser punido por atos que foram forçados a realizar porque foram traficados.
From 2022 to 2025, IOM assisted more than 3,500 victims from 39 countries who were trafficked for forced criminality in Southeast Asia. Survivors need protection, medical and psychological care, a safe way home and support to rebuild their lives.
Candidatos a emprego podem tomar precauções. Um empregador legítimo deve ter um endereço verificável. O contrato deve descrever o trabalho, e o visto deve corresponder ao cargo.
A recruiter should not pressure someone to travel immediately, keep the offer secret or surrender their passport.
But polished deceptions are designed to appear credible. The burden of defeating sophisticated international criminal networks cannot rest on jobseekers alone.
Antes que alguém embarque em um voo, deve haver uma forma confiável de verificar a oferta. Quando houver suspeita de tráfico, as autoridades devem atuar em conjunto.
Quando uma vítima escapa, ela deve ser recebida com proteção em vez de punição.
For many people, trafficking now begins with an ordinary message on an ordinary phone. Our response must reach them there.
Todo buscador de emprego deve poder perguntar: Isso é realmente um trabalho ou alguém está tentando me atrair para uma armadilha.
None should be left to answer that question alone.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
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