I was sexually abused with nowhere to report – Duncan, a recent graduate, reveals
Duncan Okindo, who was among Kenyans enslaved in Myanmar and rescued early this month. He was forced to scam victims online through fraud, identity theft, phishing, romance scams, and cryptocurrency and real estate schemes.
What you need to know:
- A Kenyan graduate was lured to what he thought was a customer care job in Thailand but ended up enslaved in Myanmar's "Scam City" where he was forced to conduct online fraud.
- For four months, he endured 20-hour workdays, slept on concrete floors, suffered physical and sexual abuse, and received almost no pay.
- The Kenyan government eventually secured his rescue, though he reports thousands remain captive.
The warm glow of the Bangkok airport lights welcomed Duncan Okindo as he stepped off his plane that sunny December evening. His chest swelled with pride. After years of struggling to find stable employment in Kenya, he had finally secured what seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime – a customer care position in Thailand promising a monthly salary of Sh150,000.
"Throughout the 12-hour flight from Nairobi to Bangkok, I was only fantasising about how beautiful the future would be going forward for me and my family," Duncan recalls, his eyes momentarily brightening at the memory before darkening again.
He couldn't have known then that his passport was about to become his prison sentence, his dreams the bait in an elaborate trap, and his destination not the gleaming modernity of Thailand but the notorious "Scam City" in rebel-controlled Myanmar.
The journey into darkness
December 16, 2024, marked the beginning of Duncan's ordeal. As the firstborn in his family, the prospect of earning enough to support his parents and siblings had been irresistible.
"I initially wanted a job in Qatar or Dubai, but the lady I met in the agency told me there are new job openings in Thailand that have become hotcakes. She managed to convince me that they were offering good customer care jobs. I saw it as a good deal, and I paid Sh200,000 to the agent, which I took as a loan," Duncan explains in an interview with Nation.Africa.
At Bangkok airport, six Kenyan men and one woman were quickly cleared through immigration. A silent, watchful man collected their passports and luggage, ushering them into a waiting van. The group embarked on what would become a six-hour drive before stopping at a restaurant.
"The food was some chips with a burger and a soda. The food had excess pepper," Duncan remembers, noting how the small details still stand out in his memory.
Communication proved difficult. Their driver spoke no English, conversing only in his native language. More troubling was his vigilance – he closely monitored their movements, even following them to the washroom.
After another six-hour journey through Thailand's rural areas and urban centres, the group arrived at a fancy hotel where they spent the night, two people to a room.
A knock at 4am startled Duncan awake. A Chinese-looking man led them to two double-cabin vehicles, and after an hour's drive, they entered a heavily walled compound with an imposing gate.
"In the compound, two women came and took our bags. We were ordered to follow them and were ushered to a nearby river where a boat was waiting. In the boat was the boat rider and another man. It was a big river. I, at that moment, did not know that it's the river that separated Thailand and Myanmar," Duncan explains, his voice dropping at the revelation.
On the opposite bank, uniformed men – rebels, Duncan would later learn – escorted them to more waiting vehicles. After a 30-minute drive, they arrived at a heavily guarded compound with multiple gates and were taken to a room in a large building.
"'Welcome to the Scam City,'" Duncan recalls one of the four men who received them thundering.
The bitter truth
Reality dawned quickly. After medical tests to screen for conditions including HIV, Duncan and his companions were assigned supervisors the following morning.
"I was personally handed to a Ugandan who was my leader. Each one of us was also given a new name. In the scam city, people do not use their real names. We were each given a computer and a workstation and after the day ended were later taken to sleep just within the compound," he says.
The horrifying truth became clear: Duncan wasn't hired for customer care. He was trapped in a criminal operation forcing captives to conduct online scams.
"It's at this juncture that I realised that I was not here for a customer care job but for scamming. Here in the scamming city are thousands of people, both men and women, held captive and doing the scamming for their masters," says Duncan.
Worse still, they weren't in Thailand but in neighbouring Myanmar, a country long plagued by civil conflict.
When Duncan initially refused to participate in the criminal activities, his refusal was met with an impossible ultimatum.
"One of the managers told me I had no choice but to do it. In failure, he said I was required to pay $4,000, which translated to about half a million Kenya shillings, which I did not have," explains the diploma holder in Mass Communication.
Their days became a nightmare of exploitation. Victims were forced to scam unsuspecting internet users through platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook, targeting people with cryptocurrency, forex, and real estate schemes.
For his first month of captivity, Duncan earned a meagre 30,000 kyats. The promised commission-based earnings for subsequent months never materialised.
The working conditions were brutal: 20-hour shifts standing at computer terminals, sleeping on concrete floors without mattresses or blankets, and surviving on a single meal daily. Those who failed to meet their scamming targets faced physical beatings that sometimes resulted in serious injuries.
But what truly broke Duncan's spirit was the sexual abuse he endured, with no authority to report to, no hope for justice.
The rescue
His salvation came through the intervention of the Kenyan government, working through the country's embassy in Thailand.
"I left behind many Kenyans there, some of whom have been there from two to 11 years. Thousands of people are enslaved there," he notes.
"It looked like a miracle and a dream come true seeing myself at the airport," Duncan says, still seeming to marvel at his escape after four months of captivity.
Now back in Kenya, Duncan is working to rebuild his shattered life while processing his traumatic experiences. Despite everything, he remains determined to recover the Sh200,000 he paid to the agent who deceived him.
His experience has given him purpose as an advocate: "My message to the young people seeking jobs abroad is to be careful and ensure they do background checks on the agents they are dealing with."
He emphasises the importance of verifying that employment agencies are approved by the National Employment Authority.
A growing crisis
Duncan's nightmare isn't an isolated incident. Two weeks ago, the Kenyan government repatriated 153 citizens who had been trafficked to scam compounds in Myanmar and forced into criminal activities.
Diaspora Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu noted that these Kenyans "were lured to Myanmar under false pretence of employment and lucrative job offers, only to find themselves subjected to forced labour and exploitation in scam operations."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the extreme difficulty of rescue operations, as many fraud centres are located in areas controlled by rebel groups fighting against the Myanmar government.
Roseline further revealed that Kenyans are among hundreds of foreigners trafficked to Myanmar in 2024 and coerced into committing various online crimes, including fraud, identity theft, phishing, romance scams, and cryptocurrency scams.
The call for action
Civil society organisations are raising alarms about this growing threat. The Network against Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants Kenya warns that hundreds more Kenyans and other nationals may still be held in cyber-scam camps.
The organisation is calling on the government to establish a Special Inquiry Commission to investigate trafficking related to forced criminality, including the circumstances surrounding the trafficking of Kenyans to Myanmar and other destinations.
"The inquiry commission will also help to enhance the protection of migrant workers' labour rights and strengthen reintegration support for survivors of human trafficking and modern slavery," says Edith Morogo, executive director of the Centre for Domestic Training and Development.
Edith adds that traffickers are evolving their tactics: "The traffickers are no longer just exploiting individuals for forced labour, sexual exploitation, or domestic servitude, but are now coercing victims into engaging in illegal activities under duress."
Mutuku Nguli, the Chief Executive Officer for Counter-Human Trafficking Trust East Africa, an affiliate organisation of the network, acknowledges the difficulty in determining exact numbers.
"In our discussions with the government, we could be having hundreds of Kenyans amongst other nationalities who are inside those scam centres," said Nguli.
The organisations are advocating for enhanced training of border control officers to identify potential trafficking victims, implementation of preventive and protective measures against trafficking for forced criminality, and accountability for all institutions, groups, individuals, and recruitment agencies involved in human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
As Duncan looks towards his uncertain future, his story stands as both a warning and a call to action against the shadowy networks turning human dreams into nightmares of exploitation.
dmaichuhie@ke.nationmedia.com