The quest to free thousands of enslaved scammers from facilities in Myanmar has turned into a growing humanitarian crisis.
Last month, a highly publicised operation by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities led to the release of more than 7,000 people who had been forced to scam Americans and others out of their life savings while enslaved in locked compounds.
But what has been described as one of the largest potential rescues of forced labourers in modern history appears to have taken them from one nightmarish situation to another as the former scammers now face scarcity of food and no medical care in overcrowded centres at the border between Myanmar and Thailand
They also have no idea when they may be able to go home.
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One man, from India and who spoke on condition of anonymity for his safety, described how there were about 800 people staying at his same facility with only 10 dirty toilets to share.
“If we die here with health issues, who is responsible for that?” he asked, as he described how many people were feeling feverish and coughing.
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The armed groups who are holding the survivors, as well as Thai officials across the border, say they are awaiting action from the detainees’ home governments.
The freed survivors are thought to be a small fraction of what the United States Institute of Peace believes are an estimated total of more than 300,000 scammers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos that account for at least £34bn in stolen funds worldwide.
Sky News’ Asia correspondent Cordelia Lynch went undercover in October inside one of these scam centres in Cambodia, exposing the reality of life inside for thousands of workers who find themselves caught in a criminal web they can’t escape from.
Poom-Jai*, 17, spoke about his job. Over several months, the Thai teenager was trained to lure, befriend and defraud lonely people online, with brutal efficiency.
*Name has been changed
He said: “I wondered when I scammed them, would they become penniless, would they face hardship.”
Scammers are taught to build trust but everything they say is fake. They give fake names, build fake profiles and tell fake stories.
Beijing began pushing the region’s governments to crack down on the cyber scamming industry this year after a young Chinese actor was trafficked to Myanmar by people who promised him an acting job in Thailand.
His girlfriend spearheaded a viral social media campaign that led to his release.
Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, previously said: “China, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos are working together to crack down on cyber scam activities in the Thai-Myanmar border area.
“Our mission is to cut off the black hands that reach out to the people and remove the cancer of online fraud.”
After the release of the Chinese actor, senior Chinese government official then visited Thailand and Myanmar demanding an end to the scams.
Thailand responded by cutting electricity, internet and gas supplies to five border towns in Myanmar.
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Shortly after, the ethnic militia groups that rule this area of Myanmar – the Kayin Border Guard Force and the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army – asked some of the trapped scammers if they wanted to leave, before escorting them out of their compounds.
As the number of people released has grown into the thousands, most are being held either in army camps controlled by the Kayin Border Guard Force, or repurposed scam compounds, where many have been since early February.
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At one point, the Border Guard Force said more than 7,000 people were crammed in such facilities.
“It felt like a blessing that we came out of that trap, but the actual thing is that every person just wants to go back home,” said another Indian man, 24, from inside a makeshift detention centre.
Authorities in Thailand say they cannot allow foreigners to cross the border from Myanmar unless they can be sent home immediately, leaving many to wait for help from embassies.
