Malaysian cook sold to Myanmar scam gang tells of beatings, 18-hour days — and his escape via a pigsty
- The 33-year-old thought he was being hired to work in Thailand when he answered the job advert on social media calling for chefs and waiters
- Instead, he was trafficked to Myanmar via Laos, his passport and phone were confiscated and he was forced to work as a scammer
The man, who once worked as a cook in Johor, had spotted the advertisement on social media, Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper China Press reported.
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“There were vacancies for chefs and waiters,” the man, whose surname is Zeng, was quoted as saying.
“I was interviewed over the phone by a Malaysian Chinese. Later in April, I flew to Bangkok.”
After he landed in Thailand, Zeng said a “recruiter” told him that he would be working in Chiang Rai, about 800km north of Bangkok.
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Zeng was taken from there to an industrial complex in Myanmar, where his passport and phone were confiscated and he was forced to work as a scammer.
He said he was made to work 12 to 18 hours a day. If he failed to reach the daily “target”, he would be punished physically.
One day, a chance to escape occurred when the gates to the industrial complex opened in the midst of a battle between the military and armed groups in strife-torn Myanmar.
However, Zeng and several escapees were later captured, robbed by a militia group and forced to sleep in a pigsty.
Their money was taken away but their passports were returned to them, he said.
Zeng eventually got in touch with Malaysian organisations that arranged for their rescue.
