Rabat – Earlier this month, news of the kidnapping and illegal detention of Moroccans by human trafficking networks in Southeast Asia caused alarm among Moroccans, with many taking to social media to express their solidarity with the affected families and vent their outrage.
The case of these trapped and abused Moroccans is not spun from the threads of Hollywood fantasy; instead, it is grounded in the lived experiences of helpless and deceived migrant workers as they grapple with the harsh realities of life where human trafficking and mafia meet.
The tragic case of the kidnapping and illegal detention of foreign nationals, including Moroccan tourists and migrant workers, is essentially a sad story of people tricked into leaving their countries with the promise of better financial and employment prospects, according to media reports and official statements by the concerned authorities in the Southeast Asian borders where these trafficking networks operate.
Instead of the job opportunities they were promised, however, they have found themselves caught in the clutches of human trafficking. With their dreams now shattered, they teeter between life and death while their future is hanging in uncertainty.
The victims, including Moroccans, mostly traveled to Thailand not as tourists; in most cases, they were instead recruited by self-proclaimed companies who claimed to be multinationals headquartered at the border between Myanmar and Thailand.
The companies are said to be operating in the field of cyber scamming and their role is to lure opportunity-seekers with false job offers in e-commerce.
The recruitment typically happens from Morocco through locals serving as intermediaries for supposedly high-paying companies based in Southeast Asia, most notably at the border between Myanmar and Thailand.
Adorned in fake profiles or fake recruitment websites, among others, these local recruiters serve cybercriminal games that abduct and force people into illegal labor.
A source familiar with the case told Morocco World News (MWN) that the number of Moroccans currently trapped in the clutches of these Southeast Asian trafficking networks is estimated at 14.
How did they reach this perilous predicament? According to the source, most of these victims traveled to what has turned out to be a hellish destination through a flight from Morocco and Malaysia and then a stopover to reach Thailand.
Once in Thailand, the victims are transferred by flights to Mae Sot, a rebel-controlled border town of Myanmar that is infamous for illegal activities, including human trafficking.
A July 2015 report by the Asian Development Bank shed much-needed light on the mode of operation of these trafficking networks and warned opportunity-seeking individuals against considering juicy offers to travel to the infamous region for work.
“Once they go with the agents, the situation changes. The men are taken to fishing boats where they work as virtual slaves for weeks at a time out at sea and are locked up when they return to shore,” the bank wrote.
Impossible mission
While the Thai and Myanmar authorities have been working to help secure the release of the detainees, it appears to be an impossible task, as it is difficult for law enforcement agencies to operate due to the location of the aforementioned businesses within areas controlled by armed insurgents.
The embassy of Morocco in Bangkok is also closely monitoring the situation and is undertaking steps with local authorities to contribute to helping the trapped Moroccans leave the region as soon as possible, multiple sources have told Morocco World News (MWN).
On May 2, the embassy of Thailand in Rabat was approached by families of the trapped Moroccan nationals to obtain information about their fate.
The families have also met with representatives of the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inquire about the situation, with the ministry’s Department of Consular and Social Affairs stressing its commitment to continue closely monitoring the issue to address the situation.
Some Moroccans have managed to leave detention centers after paying a ransom, while others agreed to work for the companies for “Attractive remuneration,” and “do not consider themselves victims of human trafficking,” one of the sources said.
Thai reassurance
Last week, the Thai ambassador to Morocco, Fabio Chinda, condemned the crimes being perpetrated by the human trafficking networks and expressed his country’s eagerness to resolve what he described as a complex problem. He however called for robust international cooperation, stressing his government’s readiness to cooperate with Moroccan authorities and the whole international community to crack down on the transnational trafficking and scamming networks responsible for the routine kidnapping and detention of foreign nationals.
“The Royal Thai Government and the Royal Thai Embassy are well aware of this issue,” the ambassador said, adding that the criminal activities have been perpetrated by citizens of various nationalities operating across international borders.
He especially emphasized the importance of shared responsibility and effort in resolving such cases, stressing: “These individuals from Morocco and other African countries usually willingly applied for the Thai visas, having been motivated by financial gains through misleading information received from these international trafficking networks.”
