‘They told me they had bought me and owned me. It’s weird … it takes you back to the age of the slave trade in Africa. It is hard to believe when someone tells you: “I own you.” But you cannot laugh, because it is serious,’ recounts George (pseudonym), a Ugandan man in his early thirties who survived being trafficked to scam compounds in Laos and Myanmar.
George was lured with the promise of an IT job in Laos but, on arrival, found himself forced into scamming, tasked with attracting ‘clients’ from Europe. His new managers told him that he owed the company US$2,500 and put him to work to pay off this fabricated debt. After an initial stint in a compound in Laos, he was moved to Myanmar. Labour conditions at this second location were appalling and the people trapped inside were kept under heavy surveillance; any attempt to escape was met with severe punishment. When a chance to get out presented itself, George and a co-worker from South Africa immediately took it.
