Trafficked into sex slavery in Southeast Asia

In a world of shattered dreams, desperate hopes, and rare opportunities, the desire leave the country for greener pastures has become an unrelenting pursuit for several Ugandans. Driven by the promise of bright futures, they embark on perilous journeys overseas to seek employment. However, countless individuals, find themselves entrapped in the darkest corners of human exploitation. Lured by false promises, they are subjected to human trafficking, human rights violations, and unimaginable torture. Their aspirations are brutally crushed by the very people they trust.

When Brenda Adyek* boarded a flight to China, in October 2023, she thought her financial troubles would soon be over. She had received lucrative offers to teach in China and Myanmar, where she would make over Shs14 million per month. Adyek had previously taught in China for ten years and had briefly returned to Uganda due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. “When the world started opening up, I began to look for jobs.

I came across a link in a WhatsApp group that indicated that teachers were being sought in Beijing. They were so desperate that they were offering a Shs14.4 million salary, while institutions in Myanmar offered Shs18 million,” she says. Adyek accepted the offer from Myanmar. It did not cross her mind that the opportunity might have been too good. Mentally, she was calculating how much money she would save every month. On arrival in Beijing, she was directed to board a train to a destination and then, cross a border point. She cannot mention the border point due to security concerns. During that time, she was in communication with her would-be employers.

“At the border, I met some Chinese men, who handed me over to soldiers. It was night-time and I was scared. It took us 12 hours to reach our final destination. At the camp, we passed through three gates. I began to suspect I was trapped,” she recalls. Once inside the camp, all her belongings and identification were taken away. Instead of going to a classroom to teach, Adyek was instructed to begin practicing how to scam internet users.

The captives in the camp were not allowed to move anywhere. “Each one of us was given a high-tech computer that is monitored. We were made to create fake accounts for hacking purposes. We also tracked and stole money online. The girls were subjected to online sex,” she says. When the schemes succeed, the money does not come to the trafficked victims. Instead, it goes directly to the accounts of their traffickers, who then pay part of it to the soldiers (rebels). “A special team deals with hacking banks. Every one of us has a target of making USD 10,000 (Shs36.5 million) per month. Anyone who fails is severely beaten. Those who cooperate do not suffer much,” Adyek adds. Adyek reveals that after a thorough medical checkup, the women in the group are subjected to unprotected sex by the rebels daily.

Women who are ‘medically clean’ sleep in separate rooms, while the others sleep in groups in a single room. Each room is protected by three armed men. “You either end up getting pregnant or infected with sexually transmitted diseases. I was handed over to a rebel and he raped me every day. He only stopped when I got pregnant. After I gave birth, they took away my child,” she says. The trafficked woman believes that her child, like several others, was sold. After giving her a month to heal, the rebel resumed his sexual advances on Adyek. Today, she is pregnant again but still has to meet her daily target of USD 10,000. “These rebels are so desperate for money that they even engage in the trade of body organs. I have suffered enough but I see no way out of this camp. I miss the children I left in Uganda but our government has failed to help us,” she laments. Adyek is still languishing in the camp.

From Dubai to Myanmar

Doreen Ayuru* was also lured through a false job offer in Thailand that promised to pay her Shs4 million every month. She traveled with a female friend, allegedly convinced by one, Johnathan Atuha. “I believe he is an agent of human trafficking based in Kampala City. He demanded a connection fee and advised us to get visas to Thailand from the Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. We were given tourist visas, which Atuha convinced us would be changed to working visas once we arrived in Thailand,” she says. On September 23, 2024, Ayuru and her friend traveled to Bangkok, Thailand. They took a seven-hour drive from Suvarnabhumi Airport to their destination at the border. In the wee hours of the morning, they were put on a small boat and trafficked to Myanmar. “When we arrived at Cyber Scam Camp, we were taken to a building full of suffering people, some with broken bones.

We were allocated computers and trained on how to carry out online fraud,” she recalls. Unbeknownst to her, Ayuru had traveled when she was in the first trimester of pregnancy. The traffickers were furious when they discovered her pregnancy. “I refused to abort and I continued working. However, after some months, my friend was crippled. When we demanded to be released, the traffickers demanded for Shs29 million per person. We did not have that kind of money,” Ayuru recounts. Ayuru’s friend called her relations in Uganda and they raised the money and sent it to the traffickers. However, instead of putting her on a plane to Uganda, the traffickers abandoned her at the border with Thailand without money. The crippled woman was rescued by Thai authorities and handed over to Uganda’s Mission. She was repatriated on March 8, 2025.

“Due to my pregnancy, the traffickers had three plans for me. One was to sell me off, but no one wanted to buy a pregnant woman. The second plan was to dump me in a forest, while the third one was to forcefully carry out an abortion on me. They tried the third option two times, but failed,” Ayuru says. Her journey to liberation began on the night of February 3, 2025, when the captives in the camp demonstrated against the abuse of their human rights. Two Kenyan nationals escaped and swam across the river to Thailand, where they reported the presence of the camp. On February 11, through a joint operation, Ayuru and six other victims were rescued. However, she says six Ugandans are still trapped in that camp.

Trafficked to Laos

In February 2022, Aminata Namuli* sold her retail shop and boarded a plane to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Unfortunately, the promised job was not forthcoming, and she was thrown into the labour market of the luxurious city. “I tried my hand at several jobs like horse riding, social media marketing, and door-to-door home cleaning. I wasn’t paid a single coin. My visa expired and I decided to seek better opportunities elsewhere,” she says. A friend connected Namuli to a woman named Vivian, who told her about a social media marketing job in Laos that paid USD 1,200 (Shs4 million) per month. In November 2022, she traveled to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, with three other Ugandans and one Nigerian. In a twist of fortunes, the quartet was trafficked to a cyber scamming centre in the Gold Triangle Camp, 600 kilometres from Vientiane.

“We were given computers and smartphones and forced to commit online fraud. Those who failed to meet the targets were beaten. After a while, working under savage conditions, we rioted. We demanded payment for our efforts,” Namuli explains. In anger, in January 2023, the traffickers sold Namuli and her colleagues to another company whose victims worked under worse conditions, including constant sexual assault. “Our new captors threatened us with machetes whenever we slowed down with work. Eventually, the boss locked us up in a room for nine days. Three were three women. He brought four men who raped us every day,” she recalls. After nine days, Namuli was sold off to another company. It was there that she discovered she was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby boy. In December 2023, Namuli was repatriated through Uganda’s Embassy to Malaysia. She is undergoing rehabilitation.

Myanmar cyber fraud

According to a May 2024 report from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Transnational Crime in Southeast Asia, about 305,000 victims are trafficked in the scamming industry operating in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, leading to a total of USD 64 billion stolen worldwide annually. “The victims of forced labour come from more than 60 countries around the world, many from African countries. They are duped by fraudulent online ads for lucrative high-tech jobs and trafficked illegally into scam compounds, where they are held by armed gangs in prison-like conditions and forced to run online scams,” the report states. According to the USIP report, ample evidence suggests that protection of the scamming industry is now of strategic interest to the ruling elites in Myanmar, Cambodia, and other countries in the region due to the industry’s profitability and the nature of state involvement.

“The criminal groups masterminding these scams have set up complex money-laundering operations to move funds into the formal economy, risking corruption of major international financial institutions,” the report further states. So far, nine Ugandans have been repatriated, while 19 more await their turn. Betty Bigombe, Uganda’s ambassador to Malaysia, calls on the government to treat human trafficking as a security concern. “The victims have been trained to steal and scam online. When they return home and there are no means of earning a living, there will be the temptation to practice what they learned,” she cautions. Aggrey Kibenge, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development (MGLSD), says the victims in Myanmar never traveled through licensed, registered, and regulated labour export companies.

“We are only aware of the people we have cleared in our system. We may not know that someone has been trafficked until he or she sends us a complaint,” he says. Both Ayuru and Namuli are being taken care of by Willow International, an organisation that provides restorative aftercare services to victims of trafficking. Uganda’s high levels of unemployment continue to drive several young people into modern-day slavery in East Asia, believing every job opportunity dangled at them will open the door to greener pastures. 

REPORT

According to the USIP report, ample evidence suggests that protection of the scamming industry is now of strategic interest to the ruling elites in Myanmar, Cambodia, and other countries in the region due to the industry’s profitability and the nature of state involvement.

“The criminal groups masterminding these scams have set up complex money-laundering operations to move funds into the formal economy, risking corruption of major international financial institutions,” the report further states.

*Names changed to protect the identity of the source.

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General Manager Editorial Daniel Kalinaki, Acting Managing Editor Allan Chekwech
Editor, Sustainability Hub Gillian Nantume, Features Editor Caesar Karuhanga Abangirah, Contributor David Walugembe