CNN: Cuts to US foreign aid are hurting efforts to tackle human trafficking at scam compounds. Americans may pay the price

Interpol says that what began as a regional threat to Southeast Asia has now turned into a “global human trafficking crisis” impacting “millions of victims, both in the cyber scam centers and as targets.”

Officials across Southeast Asia and China have made periodic efforts to combat the scourge, and thousands were reportedly awaiting repatriation in Mae Sot after a recent crackdown.

“The mass repatriation didn’t happen in a vacuum,” says Mina Chiang, the founder of the UK-based social enterprise Humanity Research Consultancy (HRC), adding that organizations like hers have spent years providing intelligence on human trafficking to national authorities and Interpol, and advocating for action.