{"id":116445,"date":"2023-08-30T09:05:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T06:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/hundreds-of-thousands-trafficked-into-online-criminality-across-se-asia\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T09:05:14","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T06:05:14","slug":"hundreds-of-thousands-trafficked-into-online-criminality-across-se-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/news\/hundreds-of-thousands-trafficked-into-online-criminality-across-se-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of thousands trafficked into online criminality across SE Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <p>You are unauthorized to view this page.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-login-form-wrap\">\n            \n<div class=\"mp_wrapper mp_login_form\">\n                  <!-- mp-login-form-start -->     <form name=\"mepr_loginform\" id=\"mepr_loginform\" class=\"mepr-form\" action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\" method=\"post\" data-trp-original-action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\">\n            <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_username\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n                              <label for=\"user_login\">Username<\/label>\n        <\/div>\n        <input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" value=\"\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_password\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n          <label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n          <div class=\"mp-hide-pw\">\n            <input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" value=\"\" \/>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"button mp-hide-pw hide-if-no-js\" data-toggle=\"0\" aria-label=\"Show password\">\n              <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-visibility\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n            <div>\n        <label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n      <div class=\"submit\">\n        <input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button-primary mepr-share-button\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116445\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_process_login_form\" value=\"true\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_is_login_page\" value=\"false\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n    <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"trp-form-language\" value=\"en\"\/><\/form>\n    <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n    <div class=\"mepr-login-actions\">\n        <a\n          href=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/?action=forgot_password\"\n          title=\"Click here to reset your password\"\n        >\n          Forgot Password        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n      \n    <!-- mp-login-form-end --> \n  <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"smart_content_wrapper\">\nOrganised crime groups are forcing hundreds and thousands of people into online criminality. Criminal gangs in southeast Asia are using torture and abuse to force hundreds of thousands of people into an online scam operation which generates billions of dollars per year, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday. OHCHR said that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar and another 100,000 in Cambodia may be held in situations where they are forced to execute lucrative online scams &#8211; from illegal gambling to crypto fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Other States including Lao PDR, the Philippines and Thailand have also been identified as main countries of destination or transit. \u201cPeople who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes,\u201d said UN rights chief Volker T\u00fcrk. \u201cThey are victims. They are not criminals,\u201d he insisted. The latest OHCHR report sheds new light on cybercrime scams that have become a major issue in Asia, with many workers trapped and forced to participate in scams targeting people over the internet.<\/p>\n<p>The report notes workers face a range of serious human rights violations, and many have been subjected to abuses such as torture, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and forced labour. Victims of such operations can be scammed an average of $160,000 each, often through sophisticated scripts sent via unregulated social media applications. According OHCHR, these victims come from across the ASEAN region as well as mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, South Asia and even further afield from Africa and Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. T\u00fcrk called on States to ensure justice \u201cfor the people who have been so horrifically abused.\u201d Speaking in Geneva, Pia Oberoi, OHCHR\u2019s Senior Advisor on Migration and Human Rights in Asia Pacific, said ongoing regional \u201ceconomic distress\u201d paired with the COVID-19 pandemic has meant there is a lack of regular and safe pathways towards decent work opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has meant populations are more likely to rely on recruitment forums or intermediaries,\u201d so criminal gangs are increasingly targeting individuals through these platforms, suggesting victims are destined for real jobs. There weren\u2019t red flags being raised\u201d &#8211; particularly for the more educated, multilingual young men who the report notes are frequent victims. It follows a pattern of how labour migration has taken place in the region, and also speaks to the sophistication of these fraudulent recruitments,\u201d added Ms. Oberoi.<\/p>\n<p>According to OHCHR, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated response measures had a drastic impact on illicit activities across the region &#8211; with increased virtual work and the movement of business to less regulated spaces. Ms. Oberoi said the situation is \u201cunfolding in locations where regulation is weak,\u201d such as conflict affected border areas in Myanmar, \u201cwith little to no rule of law\u201d and in \u201claxly regulated jurisdictions such as special economic zones in Laos PDR and Cambodia.\u201d Describing the trends across the region, she added that the ability of ASEAN nationals to travel across borders without a visa, also means there is a \u201clack of protection sensitive screening\u201d, as officials don\u2019t always have the training to \u201cidentify protection sensitive responses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although there are several regional legal frameworks to prosecute such crimes, OHCHR said there is a lack of implementation by States and often forced criminality is not seen as a legal violation. Even when victims are rescued or escape, rather than being protected and given access to the rehabilitation and remedy they need, they are often subjected to criminal prosecution or immigration penalties, OHCHR said. \u201cAll affected States need to summon the political will to strengthen human rights and improve governance and the rule of law, including through serious and sustained efforts to tackle corruption,\u201d said Mr. T\u00fcrk. \u201cOnly such a holistic approach can break the cycle of impunity and ensure protection and justice for the people who have been so horrifically abused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2023\/08\/1140187\">The UN<\/a> <\/div>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/vaufien\/114702\/\">Hundreds of thousands trafficked into online criminality across SE Asia<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\">Vastuullisuusuutiset.fi<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[11271,788,11272,923,11273,11274,606,607,608],"class_list":["post-116445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-across","tag-asia","tag-criminality","tag-online","tag-se","tag-trafficked","tag-vau_viikkokatsaus","tag-vauen","tag-vaufien"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}