Family pleads for rescue of Pakistani man trafficked into scam hub in Myanmar

Mizzima

Family members are urgently appealing for the search and rescue of a Pakistani national trafficked into an online scam compound operated by a Chinese criminal syndicate in the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA)-controlled portion of Myawaddy Township, Karen State, along the Thai-Myanmar border.

Twenty-year-old Abdul Manan disappeared at the Thai-Myanmar border shortly after arriving in Thailand in December 2024. His family later received messages from him saying he had been forced to work inside Myanmar as an online scammer.

“I received a letter from my brother. It said, ‘Please save me. They beat me every day, they shock me with electricity,’” his sister, Sofia Bibi, told Mizzima. “My brother told me he was being treated brutally and inhumanely.”

After he was trafficked into Myanmar, Abdul’s family was contacted by a Chinese mafia group demanding USD 15,000 for his release.

“A Chinese man sent the family a video and demanded $15,000. But the family is very poor and cannot pay,” said a Pakistani national who previously escaped from an online scam hub in DKBA-controlled territory.

Sofia Bibi said her brother was trafficked to a location known as Deeko Park, which Mizzima has previously identified as a large compound near Wawlay town and under DKBA control. Two sources confirmed the site was built in October 2024 and is operated by the son of DKBA commander-in-chief General Saw Steel.

“Initially, we learned he was being held in KK Park, and when KK Park was demolished, he couldn’t escape. Later, we discovered he had been moved to Deeko Park,” she said. “I’m afraid that if the traffickers find out he has contacted us, they will torture him even more or even kill him.”

There have been widespread reports of Chinese criminal networks demanding ransom from victims forced to work in online scam operations across Myanmar, including in areas controlled by the DKBA. Some victims have said they were only released after ransom payments were made.

Abdul, the eldest of eight children, has seven sisters. His family describes themselves as poor, and his mother is disabled.

On 12 November, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against the DKBA and four senior leaders for supporting cyber fraud centres in Myanmar that target US citizens through online investment schemes.

Those sanctioned include DKBA commander-in-chief Saw Steel, Adjutant General Saw Sein Win, Chief of Staff Saw San Aung, Military Region 1 Commander Brigadier General Sai Kyaw Hla, and Yu Jianjun (also known as Chamu Sawang), a Thai national and director of the Trans Asia company.

Trans Asia International Holding Group Thailand Co. Ltd. Along with Troth Star Co. Ltd., were also sanctioned by OFAC for their tied to Chinese organized crime networks running online scam compounds in partnership with armed groups in Myanmar, including the DKBA.