- 10 hours ago
A new trafficking route feeds on African ambition, carrying victims from Kenya and Uganda to Northern Cyprus and the battlefields of Ukraine, where fake agents replace promised futures with coercion, debt and force.
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00:05Scams, they come in many forms, but a job offer abroad and a fresh start sounds like
00:11a ticket out until the lines start to blow.
00:14And worse is finding yourself in a battlefield on a foreign land after being promised citizenship
00:20or even a decent livelihood as seen here in our reels.
00:2455 Ghanaians have allegedly been unalived in Ukraine, but the big question is, how did
00:30they even get there?
00:32Francis Nugundaroa from Kenya left home to work as an electrical engineer in Russia.
00:37Six months later, his mother hasn't heard from him.
00:40Videos now show him in Ukraine, scared in uniform, allegedly forced into combat.
00:45Reports say recruiters promised high pay, bonuses, even Russian passports.
00:49Ukrainian authorities allege more than 1,400 people from 36 African countries have been
00:55recruited to fight for Russia.
00:57At least seven South Africans are reportedly on the front lines.
01:01Kenya's foreign minister said they've shut down over 600 illegal recruitment agencies.
01:06Well, that's hard to believe, but it is true.
01:08Yeah.
01:09And just as you've heard, Kenya and South Africa are actually doing something about that.
01:14But there's more.
01:14Aaron and the rest of the group were brought to a compound surrounded by high walls with
01:19barbed wire.
01:21Now they're trapped inside.
01:23You have to be very, very, very careful.
01:27We want less you over for a victim of human trafficking.
01:31When they get to Thailand, they traffic them into Myanmar,
01:35and they get involved in criminal activities.
01:37We are cracking down on those traffickers.
01:44The scholarships are a sham.
01:46The scholarships do not exist.
01:47What do you mean, they're a sham?
01:49They deceive them, saying that they will find jobs here easily and they will study at the same time.
01:56And a few days later, they start telling them that they need to engage in prostitution.
02:01It's troubling.
02:03Seriously, it's troubling.
02:04Why?
02:05I do not have that money to pay.
02:08Well, you see greed on the part of victims, but we are talking about a calculated bet on human
02:13vulnerability.
02:14The most recent numbers from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Global Report on Trafficking in Persons
02:202024 indicate that approximately 15,000 victims from Africa were officially detected outside the
02:27continent between 2019 and 2023.
02:31Some more remain unaccounted for due to the clandestine nature of human trafficking.
02:35Their main destinations include Europe, the Middle East, North America and East Asia.
02:41But also, 37% of adults in Africa say they have considered migrating abroad,
02:47regardless of the high risk of human trafficking.
02:50And that's one in three Africans, by the way.
02:54Today, we dig deep into how Africans get scammed into jobs that don't even exist.
02:59The sophisticated nature of these networks at the expense of people who just want a better life.
03:10Welcome to the first part of a two-part show on scam schemes in Africa.
03:15My name is Fatou Elika Moulouchi.
03:16And I'm Rachel Nduwati.
03:19So, today we are talking about the scamming thing.
03:22And Fatou, we've always heard about familiar stories from our continent.
03:25And especially we see people being very vulnerable when it comes to, you know, scamming.
03:30And for a continent that really has tons of people who are really unemployed, what else can they do?
03:35I remember some five years ago when Lovett and her international partners had to walk toot and nail to
03:42bring back some 30 women, Gambian women, who were trapped in Lebanon, somewhere in the Middle East.
03:48And they were basically told they are going there to do jobs in hospitality and some of these other industries.
03:54Instead, they found themselves being domestic slaves, actually, because they were actually going through domestic servitude.
04:00Most of these women walked long hours without pay, without food, and they were left in, you know, poor accommodations.
04:07So, you can see that people really go through a lot, all in the name of finding a better life
04:13elsewhere, which is actually, in most cases, very wrong.
04:16Yeah. And it's not the first time. I mean, in Kenya, we've had horror stories about women who've actually gone
04:21through a lot.
04:22People go there to the Gulf countries being told, you know, you can do this, you can speak good English,
04:26you have, you know, good skills.
04:28You don't even need much. You just need, you know, some few things here and there, and then they get
04:32smuggled into there.
04:34So, like, sometimes it's really tricky. And in fact, some three years ago, the W Documentaries did a masterpiece on
04:41the clandestine nature of human trafficking.
04:44People around the world, actually, including Africans, find themselves in a web of shadow networks.
04:50We are really afraid.
04:56The boat came. They put our backs in. There are people with guns. They said we should get in the
05:04boat and we cross.
05:07This is the river that Aran crossed. The Moe marks the border separating Thailand and Myanmar. On the Burmese side,
05:14it isn't always clear who is in control.
05:17Aran and the rest of the group were brought to a compound surrounded by high walls with barbed wire.
05:24Now they're trapped inside. KK Park. This is where Aran is taken to. Thousands are trafficked here and forced to
05:33scam people in China, the US and Europe.
05:37There are a few compounds like this in the area. But this one is the most notorious. And the most
05:45secretive one.
05:46We thought that everybody in this scam industry is a criminal, is a bad person. Until one day, someone reached
05:53out to us and said he had been trafficked into this scam compound.
06:01And I was so shocked to hear how big the compound is. It's like running a corporation.
06:13People are trafficked in from all over the world. But several sources confirmed that the bosses in the compound are
06:20Chinese.
06:21They track screen time on work phones and randomly inspect rooms.
06:27Security was checking our computers, seeing if we are doing our job or playing.
06:33And then we're doing our job.
06:33Lucas and Aran received financial targets, numbers of clients to be contacted, an amount of money to be scammed.
06:41If there is no client at noon, no lunch. If someone checks and you didn't reply to a client, they
06:46beat you or make you stand for hours.
06:49We work 17 hours a day. No complaints, no holidays, no rest. And if we say we want to leave,
06:57they tell us they will sell us or kill us.
07:03So you see, people are trafficked into different things.
07:06You know, there is forced labour, there is sex trafficking and also drug distribution, as we see here, increasingly cyber
07:12crime.
07:13Yeah. And you know, when I watched that video, Fatou, I saw that so many people commented like it had
07:17one million views, like DW documentary.
07:18Yeah.
07:19And I saw that some people even said that they were part of that particular scam, you know, and sometimes
07:25the people fall, become so vulnerable and they can't really, you know, understand what is happening on the ground because
07:32of the geopolitical situation of that particular place.
07:34Yeah. And, you know, in those camps and as we see the things that are happening there, these are very
07:39organised groups, actually, that have very organised operations.
07:43They have their teams and mules. Everything is scripted. You have to go by the script or you go down.
07:48And as we see that, if you don't do what they ask you to do, then you clearly have to
07:53face the consequences.
07:54So most of these people endure these circumstances and even where they come out, they cannot even explain what they
08:00dealt with.
08:01So most times the first thing that happens is the documents are also confiscated, you know.
08:06So imagine you being left without your passport. How would you even leave that country to find yourself in your
08:12home country?
08:13So that's the problem. But there are people who managed to escape, actually, those high walls.
08:18And the question we should also ask is what happens once they manage to escape? Do they just easily walk
08:24towards their freedom?
08:25Or is that the starting point of another arduous task?
08:30Judah and Michelle are aid workers on the Thai side of the border.
08:34They help trafficked victims escape from these brutal compounds.
08:40Judah and Michelle bring the victims to a safe house where they explain what will happen next.
08:46Authorities will either recognise them as victims of human trafficking and repatriate them home,
08:52or charge them with violating immigration laws, which might mean more time behind bars,
08:57this time in an official detention centre.
09:00They can take up to three months.
09:04You give them a brief but you stand there looking out the door thinking,
09:08is anyone going to turn up? Are we going to be caught?
09:11Is there going to be something that comes in aftermath?
09:17This moment of respite will last for three days.
09:20Then they must report to the authorities.
09:24Imagine an aid worker actually telling somebody,
09:27you're either going to go to jail or you're going to be deported back to your home country.
09:31And we do know the devastation, the stigma that people always experience when they're told,
09:36you know, you're going to go back to your home country.
09:37And when people talk about going, you know, Japa and Maju, you never expect to come back.
09:42But this is the situation that people find themselves in,
09:45especially in a place like Myanmar where Africans don't even know the geopolitical situation.
09:50Yeah, I mean, yeah, quite right.
09:52Because we are talking about also committing a crime in these countries,
09:56because first of all, scamming.
09:58I don't think any country would legalise anything like being in a scam centre
10:02and extorting money from people.
10:03So first of all, they traffic to do these illegal jobs
10:06and most of them go into these countries illegally as well.
10:09So once you are there and you end up, for example, finding freedom,
10:13it does not mean that you will not be prosecuted at the end of the day.
10:16And we also have to look at the scale of what is happening here,
10:18because we are talking about over 400,000 people globally
10:22being trafficked into scam centres, right,
10:27walking up to 19 hours a day under forced conditions.
10:30And we are talking about these people generating up to $3 trillion annually.
10:36Do you think that money is going to go?
10:38They want to save that money.
10:40Yes, for these scam networks.
10:41So it's actually a very big, you know, operation that we're talking about here.
10:46So they don't just let you lose.
10:48First of all, like I said, they get your passports and you're stuck in there.
10:51So if you manage to escape like we just see, you're lucky.
10:54But it does not mean that you would definitely be walking towards your freedom.
10:58Yeah, it's the world we live in, unfortunately.
11:00But after that DW documentary,
11:02a thousand more were freed through the joint cooperation of the respective countries.
11:06But they don't just find themselves there.
11:08There's usually a trusted person or even an agent,
11:12somebody who comes to you, you know, telling you I can be your consultant.
11:16And this agent markets the idea of a better life elsewhere.
11:20So it happened a few years ago in the case of Northern Cyprus,
11:23where around 20,000 Africans are lured into scholarship opportunities that simply do not exist.
11:30It always sounds great at first until it is no longer.
11:35Michael Oti has the gist.
11:38So come with me.
11:46We are in the heart of Lefkosia in the ancient city in Northern Cyprus.
11:51This Mediterranean island offers not just history, but also international education.
11:57And there's a reason why each year several thousand African students show up on this island
12:02looking for an international degree.
12:04So what makes it so attractive?
12:07We find out.
12:09An economy that has been struggling since the Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983
12:15after years of war and crisis.
12:18In the early 2000s, no university programs started to attract international students
12:23with low tuition fees and affordable accommodation.
12:27The growing number of students keeps the economy running.
12:31Around 20 universities in the small de facto territory are wooing potential graduates.
12:36This must be student heaven then.
12:41On the outskirts of Lefkosia, I'm about to meet Brutus Hunda, a student at Near East University.
12:48As president of the Librarian Students Association, he's heard a lot of complaints from other students
12:54who came to the island via agents, recruiters who promised them easy work and affordable accommodation.
13:00But the reality is...
13:02It's kind of difficult currently.
13:04I have more than almost 10 students who are just stopping partially with friends.
13:10Because they came and then accommodations, some of them, what the agent told them, the price and other stuff, it
13:17has escalated.
13:18Yeah, there is complete exploitation.
13:19Exploitation.
13:20You feel it as exploitation.
13:21Exploitation.
13:22Exploitation.
13:29This talk about bad news made me suspicious.
13:32So, I decided to do some digging of my own.
13:35And what I found was disturbing.
13:50I've seen stories about racism, discrimination, and even the death of some students.
13:55So, I went to find someone who knows more.
13:58A critical part of this recruitment process is the use of agents by the various universities.
14:04Talk to us about how that works.
14:06If I were an agent, for example, on behalf of a university, I have an understanding with the university
14:12that for every student I bring to the northern part of Cyprus, alright, I get paid about $500 to $600
14:19by the university.
14:20I also reserve the right to ask for a fee from the student I'm bringing.
14:26And I think the really bad thing about the whole agency issue is that it's not regulated.
14:31In fact, we do know from some of the studies that we've done that a huge, almost 50% of
14:37students said the agents misled them.
14:40And not mentioning that you were coming to the northern part of Cyprus, just saying Cyprus.
14:43You were told, for example, well, you can get a job when you come here, you can get a scholarship.
14:48But students come and there are no jobs.
14:50The legal way, the vast majority are working in the unregulated or as illegal workers.
14:56Scholarships, well, the scholarships are a sham.
14:59The scholarships do not exist.
15:00Yeah.
15:01The scholarships are a sham.
15:02They're a sham.
15:03And what happens is in up to 50% of these cases, actually, victims were recruited by someone that they
15:10know.
15:11So imagine an agent making $1,000 per student, bringing $10 in a month.
15:18That's $10,000 made easy peasy.
15:21That's a lot of money.
15:22And, you know, northern Cyprus is a really complicated situation because some people who don't understand the situation in northern
15:28Cyprus,
15:28they think that northern Cyprus is part of the EU.
15:31So they really sold this, you know, you're going to study at a place where, you know, the land is
15:37green, the grass is green.
15:38But it's always going to be a crazy reality when you get there.
15:42There's all the reality that's not real.
15:44They're told you're going to get jobs.
15:45You're going to be, you know, employed afterwards.
15:48But this really does not happen.
15:50So then what happens when you find yourself in that battle, when you realize that it was all a lie?
15:56You are not, in fact, in the Republic of Cyprus, but rather northern Cyprus, which is an unrecognized territory going
16:03by the United Nations.
16:04Do you just pack your bags and leave? Or do you face the reality of your situation? Let's find out.
16:11So what they do is that sometimes they try to find jobs. They can't. So they fail to pay the
16:17universities.
16:18They become passive students. So they become irregular residents at the same time.
16:23And they can't go back to their countries for a variety of reasons, either because they're scared that they will
16:30be judged by their parents.
16:31They don't know what to do when they go back to their countries without even a degree.
16:36So they still have a hope that they can work. And in the future, once they save money, they would
16:41complete their studies, basically.
16:43This is the major motivation.
16:44Are there specific examples of human trafficking that you have personally dealt with?
16:49Yes. Yes. I mean, actually, many cases. And they are recently mostly related to trafficking of young African girls into...
16:59They are forced into sex work, basically. So in the exploitation of young African girls, we see African women and
17:08African men engage mostly.
17:09But also they have collaboration with some locals as well.
17:13Yeah. They are adults, but there are also children that also get trafficked as well, you know.
17:19Some of these kids sometimes find themselves in child labor activities. But, well, this is the case of Northern Cyprus
17:25we're talking about.
17:26Yeah. And, you know, I was reading a bit about Northern Cyprus and I saw like, especially on Facebook, because
17:32that's the popular app that Africans normally use to look for this job search engines.
17:36They always look at it from a perspective of, yeah, you know, you're coming to Northern Cyprus, you're coming to
17:42get that job.
17:42And they even sometimes the scam agents use like fake Cyprus flags, you know, fake Cyprus flags, and they tell
17:49them, you know, you're coming to the EU, you're going to be rich, you're going to get more.
17:54And this is really untravel around EU countries when in fact that is not going to be the case.
17:59And what happens when they finally realize that, you know, it's all a lie.
18:03Yeah. The scholarship does not exist and they are not in, you know, this kind of dream territory.
18:09They now finally have to find a way to survive because most of these people cannot just go back home.
18:14You know, we all know what happens when you when your father or your mother sells their land for you
18:20to go abroad and study and then you have to just go empty handed without a degree, without a job,
18:25without no money.
18:25That is going to be a big deal. So they find themselves doing jobs that are not legal because, first
18:32of all, if you cannot pay your fees, then you cannot get your permit.
18:35This is what I understand. You cannot get your student permit if you cannot pay the first semester fee.
18:42So eventually you are there without any papers. So people can also use that as an opportunity to exploit you
18:48further in their labour system.
18:50And this is, you know, this cycle continues and they often are stranded in these countries.
18:56Yeah. And most of these agents actually, some of them, when I was reading, some of them actually come from
19:00the countries that they are scamming.
19:02So they already know. So they are already establishing that trust.
19:06But, you know, going home, you know, after you've told people you're going Japa, as West Africans say it, or
19:11Maju, is not always easy.
19:13And for those who end up going back, what then becomes the fate?
19:17Alexandria spoke to some of them in Kenya, and this is what she found out.
19:24Like now, maybe in Thailand, it's around, it's around 2 a.m. nights.
19:32And at this particular time, like that, we were busy on the machine.
19:50I've never told them the real situation I faced over there, that's because, you see, when I got the job
19:58offer, I was expecting that I was going to make something good and something big out of it.
20:05In the African set-up, whenever someone is going somewhere, maybe like abroad, in most cases, it's always like a
20:14secret.
20:14So I happened to have made it very, very much secretive.
20:17And when I left, they knew very little much about it.
20:45They always have a lot of hopes on me.
20:48So whenever someone is having hope on you, and then you turn it down, you understand it.
20:54You're going below average, unlike your expectations.
21:00It was a very big concern for us, and we tried to look for him through the other contacts and
21:05the friends we had in town.
21:07And the information which was coming was very scanty.
21:09Even the few friends, they must have told them, just like, don't tell them, I think I just want to
21:15suppress them when I come back, like, maybe driving a very big car after making it in life.
21:20And so the information was, yeah, he's doing well in town and he's alive, but nothing much.
21:29Of course, coming back home, it's not always easy.
21:32No.
21:32You are thinking about the stigma after a failed mission, what becomes of you.
21:36And then, of course, reintegrating back without any money to even start with, it's all the more traumatic.
21:42Yet coming back home is the only way to save your soul.
21:45Exactly.
21:45And also the psychological torture, the psychological torment of what you went through in these scam factories.
21:50Can you imagine if you have a guilty conscience of doing what you did, living with what you did?
21:55That is a bit of a tough situation to be in.
21:57It's a lot to unpack there.
22:00But of course, we have Michael, who was at the heart of these reports as well.
22:06Of course, in Northern Cyprus, you were there.
22:08I'm happy to be here with you, to chat to you.
22:10Yes, happy to have you.
22:12And also to chat to the 77%.
22:14You're one of us.
22:15Absolutely, I am.
22:16You are the OG of the 77%.
22:18The OG.
22:19I absolutely am.
22:21What is this?
22:21Why am I not being included?
22:22You're also going to get a fist bump.
22:25But you know, the Northern Cyprus situation, as we saw in that report, it's a really tricky one.
22:31What was the impact of this report?
22:33I do know that several governments, Liberia for instance, issued very strong travel advisories for students who wanted to travel
22:40to Northern Cyprus.
22:41Nigeria also.
22:42Nigeria actually, I mean, out of 20,000 people we're talking about, Nigeria's account for up to like 17,000
22:48students.
22:48Yes.
22:48So there's a huge ball coming out of that country.
22:51Absolutely.
22:51Many of the students who go to Northern Cyprus and places like this, do this out of a genuine need
22:57to improve themselves.
22:59But then people prey on their desires and vulnerabilities and put them in this kind of situation.
23:06And so the governments of these countries issuing travel advisories are very important because there was also a very, very
23:13substantial number of Liberian students who were also in Northern Cyprus.
23:17Yeah.
23:18And as you saw in that report, I spoke to the leader then of the Liberian Students Association and some
23:24of the recruiters, some of the agents were coming from Liberia.
23:27Look at that.
23:28That's crazy.
23:29Yeah.
23:29So going forward, what were some of the solutions you were able to get from your interviews with these people
23:35we see?
23:36Conversations are important.
23:38The civil society organizations are doing a fantastic job, I should say.
23:42Yeah.
23:42But they need to be given the attention that they deserve because they are talking about these things, they've been
23:48speaking about this.
23:49The students, if you're a student, you're a former student of any of the universities in Northern Cyprus, it's your
23:57responsibility to inform other people, potential students, about the challenges that exist in this area.
24:04If they ultimately decide to go ahead in spite of your advice, that's on them.
24:10That's on them.
24:10The lawyer Fazil, when you spoke to the human rights lawyer, also stressed on some of those solution points here.
24:16Let's take a look.
24:17Don't rely on an individual to come to the Northern part of Cyprus.
24:21Try to rely on institutions.
24:23Try to make your research in the best way you can.
24:26Don't trust the people that you meet online.
24:29Don't trust the words of saying that you would easily find a job here because it's not true.
24:35There you have it, guys.
24:36Just because you want to go Maju or Japa, please reach out for help when you feel trapped.
24:42We're in the digital age, so don't be fooled.
24:45Check your facts, verify and just don't trust anyone.
24:48So have you been scammed before?
24:49Follow us on our social media platforms and talk to us.
24:52You know, we are there, the 77%.
24:54Let's continue to raise this awareness.
24:56Always, always, we'll continue the conversation there.
24:59By the way, Michael, before you go, I just want to ask, have you heard of the Yahoo boys before?
25:03Yes, yes, I've heard about it.
25:05It's a quite common phrase that is used to describe internet fraudsters.
25:10Yeah, also known as 419.
25:12419.
25:12419, I don't get it as a Kenyan.
25:14Or Sakawa.
25:15Oh yeah, it's a West African thing.
25:17I don't get it.
25:18I'm pretty sure they also have their own.
25:20What do you call them?
25:21People who engage in internet fraud, what do you call them?
25:23So we always think they're from prison.
25:24Oh my God.
25:26They're from what?
25:26Prison.
25:27Oh dear.
25:28So what, they are the prisoners?
25:29That's what Kenyans think.
25:30Oh, I'm being scammed.
25:32Oh, that guy's from prison or something.
25:34No, what?
25:34Let's do it.
25:35Because they have both headphones.
25:36I see, okay.
25:37But you have it.
25:38You've got the gist for the tea.
25:41Follow us next week because that is going to be our next show.
25:44We are looking into the world of the Yahoo boys or 419.
25:47I'm sure you've heard about that as well.
25:49So it's a date with us.
25:50We will be back then next week.
25:52Until next time.
25:53Until next time.
25:54Goodbye.
25:56Bye.
25:57Bye.
25:59Bye.
26:00Bye.
26:00Bye.
26:01Bye.
26:02Bye.
26:03Bye.
26:06Bye.
26:06Bye.
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