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Being the breadwinner, 29-year-old Rahim* thought that getting a job to support his family would be the answer to his prayer. The salary from his past job as a boat operator was just enough to support his family’s needs, but he lost the job during the pandemic. Therefore, when his friend offered him work with a competitive salary in Cambodia, Rahim agreed to it without doubt.
“It was an easy job, they said. They would provide me a place to stay and three meals a day. They promised me a monthly salary of US$700 if I joined them,” Rahim recalled. The brokers who promised Rahim and his friend a job brought them to Batam and accompanied them in applying for the passport. They were kind to Rahim at that time.
“It was my first time working abroad. Although I could not speak English well, they said it was fine. I was only familiar with the use of social media,” he continued.
Nightmare in Cambodia
Upon arrival at Cambodia in May 2022, Rahim and other survivors were picked up by some people from the company and brought to an apartment which then also became their office. They were locked inside the building and their passports were confiscated. Rahim could not go anywhere. He started to realise that something was wrong.
“At first, they promised me an online marketing job, but the work turned out to be very different. Every day I had to trick three people into cryptocurrency investment via the instant messaging application. I put up a female profile picture to scam the target. Most of them were rich men. When we got the target’s attention, a real female model would do a video call to gain trust,” Rahim recounted.
However, Rahim never achieved the result expected by his ex-supervisor – which led him to another nightmare.
“Not only me but everyone who did not meet their expectation would get some form of physical punishment such as push-ups,” he continued.
“They beat us with a belt or computer keyboard. Our salary was also cut.”
SEND RESCUEA breadwinner’s dream destroyed
Attempting to fight back against those who abused him, Rahim was put in a dark room and was not allowed to eat anything for a week. The supervisor even threatened to sell him to another place.
“At that time, I just wanted to go home. They said that my family must pay nearly US$2,400 for me to be released. My family already paid the money to send me to Cambodia. Where could they find that extra money?” said Rahim disappointedly. “I went there to work, but I ended up being robbed.”
His dream of providing well for his family was destroyed. At that moment, he only wanted to leave that place and go home safely.
“I was looking for a better job to support my family, but I ended up being trafficked,” says Rahim.
DONATE NOWRelease and repatriate
Hope arose after two months had passed. Together with the other eight survivors from Indonesia, Rahim was released from the office compound with the help of IJM Cambodia, the Embassy of Indonesia and the Cambodia Police Department.
“I am thankful because many parties helped me so I can be released from such a situation. It happened at the right time. If not, I might never come back to my family because they asked a lot of money to bail me out,” said a man who now works as a water deliveryman in his town.
The trafficking case was reported to the police by the Indonesian Embassy. The perpetrators were trying to intimidate and bribe them to withdraw the case.
“I am not afraid because I want to fight for justice. I’ll move on from that horrible experience, but they must go to jail and be punished accordingly. I must get my rights back,” Rahim insisted.
First IJM conviction of cyber-scamming perpetrators
In March 2023, the Indonesian court has convicted the three perpetrators. The main perpetrator received four years imprisonment and a US$ 13,000 fine. She also had to pay restitution to all nine victims. The two other perpetrators received three years imprisonment and a US$13,000 fine.
Until today, IJM has helped to remove and care for over a hundred individuals whom we believed to be victims of cyber-scam slavery. IJM offices in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines, and Malaysia proactively coordinate with their government agencies and foreign embassies to help facilitate rescues and repatriation of the victims and connect with partners to provide legal and aftercare support.
Your donation will help rescue and protect more people like Rahim* from cyber-scam slavery and cross-border labour trafficking.
SEND HELP*A pseudonym
