If something looks too good to be true, it probably is. That is the message from Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry. The government issues a warning to job searchers who are susceptible to the allure of better opportunities in South East Asia.
Source: BBC African News
It follows the rescue of more than 60 Kenyans from Myanmar and Laos. Over the last few months after the sales of customer service jobs they applied for in Thailand. These jobs turned out to be a cover for cybercrime, prostitution and even organ theft.
“Already one young Kenyan has died as a result of a botched operation by quack doctors operating in the Chinese-run factories in Myanmar,”
the ministry said last week.
I spoke to two women about their recent experiences. Requesting anonymity, is a 31-year-old, who has a a diploma in hotel management, and a 35-year-old high school graduate. They explain their odeal of how they had left for jobs in Thailand in August with a promise of a monthly salary of $800 (£675).
A month before their departure they each had borrowed nearly $2,000 to pay their agents for the trip. They underwent a short training session. Yet upon arrival in Thailand their handlers took them on a long journey by road. This long road drive somehow led them into Laos. They ended up in a 15-storey building, which became their full-time residence. Although they did not know in which town or city they were located.
upon arrival they learnt instead of customer service roles, they will engage in cybercrime activities. Some of these activities include impersonation on Tinder, Instagram and Facebook. “They fall in love with you and you can tell them about crypto-currency. “You start stealing from them,” the 31-year-old woman said. Describing in Swahili how they are both forced to work in a vast call centre like hall with hundreds of others made up of a variety of nationalities.
Despite the work, neither of them received their promised salary. Instead, they are threatened with sex work or organ harvesting if they failed to lure enough victims online. “As a woman you may be forced into sex trafficking”. If that does not work they may harvest your organs and sell them to refund their costs,” she explained, her companion assenting as she spoke. “They told us: ‘You must pay 1.2m Kenyan shillings ($10,000) to buy your freedom because we own you.”
Government issues a warning to job searchers against ‘Fraud factories’
Luckily the pair has manage to create online awareness against human trafficking. HAART a Kenyan charity that helps migrants in trouble, rescued and flew them home. With the help of UN and Kenyan authorities.
Their story matches that of other Kenyans held in what the foreign ministry has called “fraud factories”. There, “their passports are confiscated and remains under the custody of the criminal gang”. The criminals are relentless in their efforts to defraud more people. The living conditions are so inhumane some return with broken limbs.
According to the latest foreign ministry statement, some of the Kenyans in Myanmar appear to be in Kachin state. This state is known to inhabit rebel separatists are fighting the military, something that was hampering rescue efforts. “Recent army operations killed over 60 people in the area controlled by rebel groups, who provide protection to the Chinese cartels,”
The Ministry
Government continues to issues warning to job searchers as the number of victims are alarming. In total 76 victims, including 10 Ugandans and one Burundian, have returned home with the help of officials at the Kenya embassy in Thailand. This points to the dire lack of employment opportunities on the continent. This are some of the damning consequences of government failed promise to create more jobs.
According to the African Development Bank, just three million formal employment are produce each year in Africa, when more than 12 million young people enter the workforce. According to research by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, 80% of Africans who leave the continent especially those heading towards Europe do so looking for work.
Those who are lucky enough to find jobs are able to send money home to support family members. Yet all too frequently they end up in difficult situations. The revelations of the south-east Asia job scams follow continuing reports of the mistreatment of African migrants in the Middle East.
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