Swimming across the Moei River: Ayran’s Journey from Trafficking to Triumph
Introduction to the Survivor
Aryan is a Bangladeshi, born in 1999 in Dhaka city into a middle-class family. After completing his university degree in Social Science studies, he searched for a good job. Due to a lack of good job opportunities in Bangladesh, he migrated to Dubai, where he worked as a waiter in a 5-star hotel with other young Bangladeshi people like him.
How They Were Trafficked into the Scamming Compound
In August 2022, five of them decided to go to Thailand to spend their summer vacation after their group discussion, as Dubai had very hot weather at that time. On 11th August, they arrived in Thailand to spend their holidays. In the meantime, one of their friends named Noman learned about their Thailand trip and offered them a well-paying IT job in Thailand. He said, "It's a computer operator job, and you will get a $1,200 USD monthly wage." Aryan mentioned they didn't have a working visa for Thailand and couldn't stay long. The friend, Noman, who was the broker, said, "You don't need a working visa; this is a short-term Chinese project. You can work there for three months with your valid tourist visa, and if you want to continue, you can easily go to another country for a few days and return to Thailand with another three-month visa." After persuading them, the broker said, "If you like the work, you can continue; if not, you can return to the UAE or Bangladesh to enjoy your holidays."
They thought it was a good opportunity to make some money and enjoy their holidays. They agreed to take a look inside the company before deciding. Before visiting the company, a Chinese person interviewed them for the job over Telegram. It was a casual interview where they were asked basic questions in English and about computer knowledge. After the interview, all five were selected for the job.
They arrived in Thailand on 11th August with tourist visas, and on 12th August, Noman sent a Thai person with a car (shown in the picture) to pick them up and bring them to the company in Mae Sot. After driving for 6 or 7 hours, the driver asked for their passports, explaining that at the Tak province immigration checkpoint, the police would ask, in Thai, about their purpose, so he needed to explain on their behalf. After crossing the checkpoint, the driver took them to the Erawan Hotel for some rest and a meal. Afterward, the driver handed them over to another driver, stating he would take them to the company. Aryan noted, "When the first driver handed us to the second driver, the second driver gave the first driver a good sum of Thai money, but I didn't know the purpose of that money."
The second driver drove quickly towards the Thailand-Myanmar border. Aryan asked, "Why are you driving so fast, and where are we going?" The driver didn't reply and kept driving fast. After some time, they arrived near the border, where a group of 8 or 9 people with automatic rifles started escorting them toward the border. Seeing people with firearms, they became scared and followed them, having no other option at that time. After walking a few minutes, they arrived at the Moei River. The security guards separated them into two groups and placed them in two boats. After a short boat ride, they crossed the river and arrived in Myanmar.
Entering the Scamming Compounds Against Their Will
After crossing the border, they walked for about 15 minutes and arrived at the main gate of a compound. The security guard took their passports and mobile phones, and after searching them, allowed them to enter. Inside the compound, they saw many young people of different ethnic. A translator told them to go to their rooms, and the work would be discussed the next day, as instructed by a Chinese man. The next day, they were brought to the office and given a contract in English and Chinese stating, "The contract is valid for 18 months, and each of them has to make $200,000 USD for the Zhongfa company. If they can't make the money, they would face punishments like working extra hours, electric shocks, and being denied food." Aryan said they didn't want to work there and wished to return to Thailand, offering to pay for the car expenses incurred. Upon hearing this, the Chinese boss gave Aryan an electric shock for about 10 seconds and asked if he still wanted to leave. Aryan remained silent after getting the eclectic shock. After this ordeal, Aryan went to the washroom, where he met a Pakistani man who said, "I can feel it's very painful to get electric shocks." Aryan asked how long he had been there and what was happening. The Pakistani man replied, "I've been here for 9 months, and the Chinese are forcing us to do scamming work for them."
The Chinese boss took them to an office room where people were working on computers and mobile phones, assigning each of them a computer and a few mobile phones. In the office, they met people from Ethiopia, Uganda, China, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka; they were the first Bangladeshis in that company and compound. The Chinese provided training, instructing them to create fake social media accounts using photos of Russian girls, and utilising AI to make video calls with clients. They were tasked with finding 80 people's WhatsApp numbers each day using social media from Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and other nearby countries.
The Chinese boss asked them to smile while working; then recorded a video and sent it to the Bangladeshi broker who sold them to the Chinese company. The Bangladeshi broker showed that video in Bangladesh to other young Bangladeshi people, and in the same way, the broker trafficked them to Myanmar and sold them to that company. The broker sold 17 Bangladeshis by offering them well-paying IT jobs in Thailand, and all of them were sold to the same company. Day by day, people started coming from different countries, and 47 people began working in that Zhongfa company; there were 400-500 people in that compound.
Transfer to a New Compound
On 1st September, they moved to a new compound where they discovered around 20-25 companies in that new compound. In the new place, Aryan was chosen as a leader for 17 Bangladeshis, and the Chinese boss returned his mobile phone to contact his family but warned him to not tell anyone about their work and situation to anyone. However, when Aryan got his phone, he started contacting his family and friends, seeking help from them. While searching for help, they came into contact with IOM and the Coordinator of the Civil Society Network for Victim Assistance in Human Trafficking organisation in Thailand. Aryan shared their situations with them, but days passed without any assistance. They were punished daily by their Chinese boss and by the DKBA army as the Chinese bosses ordered them. Every single day was a nightmare: working 14-17 hours without any leave, being beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and tortured in a dark room for 24-72 hours. There was no hope of rescue or returning home to their families.
Type of Scamming Work
Aryan said: “When we find any client, we first build relationships and gain their trust. To gain their trust, sometimes we talk over video using the VIVED App. When clients call us, we give our phone to our model, but the model was a different girl from our fake social media account photo. The model talks to clients, and they can see that the model is driving a car or dancing in a club. After just saying hi or hello, the model disconnects the call, saying, ‘You can see now I'm busy; I will call you back later.’ Once we gain the client's trust, we tell them that I work in my free time on online shopping platforms like Amazon and Shopee and make more than $500 USD every day. ‘You are my dear friend or close person, so I can teach you how you can also make easy money from here by doing a few simple daily tasks.’
When they agreed to learn from us, we sent them the fake app that our company provided. Following the company's training, we sent them messages based on the script given to us. We instructed them to create a crypto wallet and buy USDT. When someone agreed to create a crypto wallet and buy USDT, the Chinese supervisor and other Chinese bosses took over the conversation, guiding them step by step on how to create a crypto wallet and purchase USDT. They also sent screenshots of working and making so-called profits. By following the instructions, when they invested 500 USDT, the company gave them a profit of 100-200 USDT and encouraged them to invest more to earn more money. However, when they invested a large amount, like a few thousand USDT, we ceased communication with that client. We don't know what our company did with that money. We worked hard there to protect ourselves from punishment, but it was impossible to meet the daily target, as our daily target was to make $2000 USDT, so we faced those punishments daily. Even though they didn't pay us the promised salaries, they gave us very little money in Thai currency, which we spent on food and drinks inside the compound.
How Aryan Escaped from the Compound
On 18th October, the Chinese boss severely beat a Pakistani guy named Ali and subjected him to electric shocks for about 10 minutes. The Pakistani guy couldn't tolerate the torture, had a heart attack, and started vomiting blood. The Chinese boss then called the translator and asked him to take the Pakistani guy to the clinic. However, the translator didn’t feel comfortable touching him because of the vomiting, so he called Aryan and asked him to help admit the Pakistani guy to the clinic. The Chinese boss allowed Aryan to leave the compound with the translator to take Ali to the clinic around 11 pm Thailand time. The clinic was very close to the Moei River point where Aryan and his four other friends were forced to cross the river. After getting the Pakistani guy into the clinic, Aryan went outside to smoke. While smoking, he started walking towards the river, which was very close, about a 2-3 minute walk. He reflected on the incident with the Pakistani guy and felt that it could happen to anyone, including himself.
While thinking and walking, he reached the crossing point of the river and saw two security guards playing games on their mobiles at the watchtower. He decided to take this chance to cross the river. He dove into the water, but the river flow was very strong, making it hard for him to swim. When he drove into the river, the security guards saw him and fired four rounds at him. Fortunately, it was night and dark, so the guards missed. Aryan kept swimming but couldn't reach the other side. After about 40 minutes, he saw a fallen tree in the river. Fortunately, he managed to catch the tree and reach the riverbank. It was a very dark night, and he started running into the forest without shoes. He injured his legs, and leeches attached to both legs. Suddenly, two wild dogs attacked him, but he defended himself with a stick. After walking for a few hours, he found a highway and began walking along it. He noticed a few bikers approaching, so he hid in the forest and spent the night there. At sunrise, he resumed walking on the highway. He saw a few trucks and other vehicles but couldn't stop them. After some time, he found a sign indicating a school 2 km ahead and Mae Sot in the same direction. He started walking towards the school, hoping for help.
After a few minutes, a motorcyclist approached. Aryan managed to stop him and begged to use his phone to make a call. The biker didn't understand him, so he called the Priest of the nearest temple. Aryan explained his situation to the Priest over the phone. The biker then took him to the temple. Upon arrival, Aryan requested the Priest's phone to call his family and asked for a glass of water from the Priest. Aryan got the phone number of an NGO in Thailand from his family that had been in touch with him for the past few weeks. They immediately arrived at the temple with the Thai Police, picked up Aryan, and admitted him to a hospital for initial treatment. After his treatment, he was sent to the Mae Sot human trafficking victim support centre. There, he identified himself as a trafficking victim, and after all the paperwork, he was repatriated to his home on 17th November 2024.
What Aryan is doing now
After returning home, Aryan began raising awareness about human trafficking. He contacted the families of other victims and approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh to seek assistance in rescuing them. He also reported the brokers to the police, leading to their arrest. However, he remains uncertain whether justice will be served and the traffickers punished. Aryan is actively collaborating with NGOs to advocate for the rescue of other victims.
Aryan stated: "After my trafficking experience, I now understand the depth of this organised crime. Enduring the scamming compounds has taught me the most profound lesson of my life. Surviving the harrowing conditions in scamming compounds and the perilous night in the forest feels like a second chance at life. I am committed to supporting other victims like myself. I have promised that if I can help even a single victim, I will consider my life successful."