A 30-year-old Kenyan national whose identity is being withheld has come out to expose a duplicitous exploitation ring that hides behind the promises of a stable foreign job abroad. It has become more common for individuals to fall for job scams in their quest to get employed.
The Kenyan reported that he and 23 others flew to the Middle East, hoping for a brighter future. However, the agent’s promise of good jobs turned out to be a scam, and they found themselves flying to Myanmar, Asia.
Here, they were forced to join a Chinese scam operation. Any signs of opposition by the Kenyans were met with brutal repression and assault. They were tortured until they agreed to join in on the scams.
One Kenyan, however escaped the despot’s tight clench and managed to cross to the Thai-Myanmar border where he sought assistance at Phop Phra in Western Thailand. He stumbled upon a shopkeeper who helped him get in touch with authorities.
Aside from his Kenyan counterparts, the man revealed that there were nearly 1000 more people of different nationalities at Myawaddy, also known as ‘scam town’ before he managed to escape.
He recalled having walked more than 10km for 5 hours and crossing a mountain before reaching to safety. His wounded feet were swollen from running away barefoot from the scam centre.
He claimed that he arrived in the country on October 5th 2024 after a Kenyan job placement firm helped him secure a job in Myanmar as a chef. Upon arrival, he was picked up at the country’s airport alongside 2 other Kenyans.
They were driven across the Thailand-Myanmar border to the destination where the call scam syndicate operates and forced to enrol as cryptocurrency investment scammers.
Failure to comply with the orders issued was met with cruel maltreatment as the assailants hit him with baseball bats and used electric batons. They would additionally apply hot wax to his wounds.
Promises of foreign jobs turned to human trafficking, exploitation nightmares
The Kenyan further disclosed that some of those being withheld by the criminal gang include nationals from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
It is continually coming to light that job scams are increasingly becoming prevalent. More Kenyans continue to fall for the ‘greener pastures’ narrative sold by dishonest recruitment agencies.
The government through the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs pulled the alarm over the rising cases of visa application fraud and fake jobs. Kenyans were warned against falling for such scams.
