- 1 day 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. Six months
00:38later, his mother hasn't heard from him. Videos now show him in Ukraine, scared in uniform
00:43allegedly forced into combat. Reports 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. At 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. And just as you've heard, Kenya and South Africa are actually doing something
01:12about that, but there's more.
01:14Aaron and the rest of the group were brought to a compound surrounded by high walls with barbed wire.
01:21Now they're trapped inside.
01:23You have to be very, very, very careful.
01:27We want to be warned lest you over for a victim of human trafficking.
01:31When they get to Thailand, they traffic them into Myanmar and they get involved in criminal activities.
01:37We are cracking down on those traffickers.
01:44The scholarships are a sham. The 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. So you are thinking it's troubling. Why? I 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 vulnerability.
02:14The most recent numbers from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2024
02:21indicate that approximately 15,000 victims from Africa were officially detected outside the continent 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 percent of adults in Africa say they have considered migrating abroad,
02:47regardless of the high risk of human trafficking. And 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.
03:00The 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. My name is Fatou Elika
03:16Mouloshi.
03:16And I'm Rachel Nduwati. So today we are talking about the scamming thing.
03:22In fact, we've always heard about familiar stories from our continent, and especially we see people
03:27being very vulnerable when it comes to, you know, scamming. And for a continent that really has
03:32tons 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
03:41toot and nail to bring back some 30 women, Gambian women, who were trapped in Lebanon,
03:47somewhere in the Middle East. And they were basically told they are going there to do jobs
03:51in hospitality and some of these other industries. Instead, they found themselves being domestic slaves,
03:57actually, because they were actually going through domestic servitude. Most of these women
04:01women walked long hours without pay, without food, and they were left in, you know, poor
04:06accommodations. So you can see that people really go through a lot all in the name of finding a better
04:13life elsewhere, 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
04:20actually gone through a lot. People go there to the Gulf countries being told, you know, you can do this,
04:25you can speak good English, you have, you know, good skills, you don't even need much, you just need,
04:30you know, some few things here and there, and then they get smuggled into there. So like,
04:35sometimes it's really tricky. And in fact, some three years ago, DW Documentaries did a masterpiece
04:41on the clandestine nature of human trafficking. People around the world, actually, including Africans,
04:47find themselves in a web of shadow networks. We are really afraid.
04:56The boat came. They put our backs in.
05:01There are people with guns. They said we should get in the boat and we cross.
05:07This is the river that Aran crossed. The Moe marks the border separating Thailand and Myanmar.
05:13On the Burmese side, it isn't always clear who is in control.
05:18Aran 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.
05:31Thousands are trafficked here and forced to scam people in China, the US and Europe.
05:36There are a few compounds like this in the area. But this one is the most notorious.
05:44And the most secretive one.
05:46We thought that everybody in this scam industry is a criminal, is a bad person.
05:51Until one day, someone reached out to us and said he had been trafficked into this scam compound.
06:00And 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.
06:16But several sources confirmed that the bosses in the compound are Chinese.
06:21They track screen time on work phones and randomly inspect rooms.
06:26The security was checking our computers, seeing if we are doing our job or playing.
06:33Lucas and Aran received financial targets, numbers of clients to be contacted,
06:38an amount of money to be scammed.
06:40If there is no client at noon, no lunch. If someone checks and you didn't reply to a client,
06:46they beat you or make you stand for hours. We work 17 hours a day.
06:51No complaints, no holidays, no rest. And if we say we want to live, they tell us they will sell
06:58us or kill us.
07:03So you see, people are trafficked into different things.
07:06You know, there is forced labor, 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. And I saw that some people even said that they were part of that particular scam, you know.
07:24And sometimes the people fall, become so vulnerable and they can't really, you know, understand what is happening on the
07:31ground because of the geopolitical situation of that particular place.
07:34Yeah. And, you know, in those scams, and as we see the things that are happening there, these are very
07:39organized groups, actually, that have very organized 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?
08:23Do they just easily walk towards their freedom or is that the starting point of another arduous task?
08:29Judah 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 recognize 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 center.
09:00They can take up to three months.
09:02Up 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?
09:10Are we going to be caught?
09:12Is 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 you're either going to go to jail or you're going to be deported
09:30back 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.
09:57Because first of all, scamming, I don't think any country would legalize anything like being in a scam center and
10:02extorting 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 being trafficked into scam centers, 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.
10:36Yeah, do you think that money is going to go?
10:38Like, they 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, a thousand more were freed through the joint corporation of the respective countries.
11:06But they don't just find themselves there.
11:08There's usually a trusted person or even an agent, somebody who comes to you, you know, telling you I can
11:14be 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, where around 20,000 Africans are lured
11:26into 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.
11:46We 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 looking for an international
12:04degree.
12:04So, what makes it so attractive?
12:08We find out.
12:09An economy that has been struggling since the Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983 after years of war and crisis.
12:18In the early 2000s, no university programs started to attract international students with low tuition fees and affordable accommodation.
12:27The growing number of students keeps the economy running.
12:30Around 20 universities in the small de facto territory are wooing potential graduates.
12:37This must be student-heving then.
12:39Good to meet you.
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 who came to the
12:55island via agents.
12:56Recruiters 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 accommodation, some of them, what the agent told them, the price and other stuff, it
13:17has escalated.
13:18Yeah, there is complete exploitation.
13:20You feel that there's 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 that
14:12for every student I bring to the northern part of Cyprus, all right, 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.
14:30In 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.
14:44You were told, for example, well, you can get a job when you come here.
14:47You can get a scholarship when you come.
14:49But students come and there are no jobs.
14:50The legal way.
14:51The 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.
15:03They'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.
15:16That's a lot of money, by the way.
15:17Bringing $10,000 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, they think that northern Cyprus is part of the EU.
15:31So they really sold this, you know.
15:33The Republic of Cyprus.
15:34Yeah.
15:34You're going to study at a place where, you know, the land is green, the grass is green.
15:38But it's always going to be a crazy reality when you get there.
15:42They're sold a 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?
15:54When 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?
16:07Or do you face the reality of your situation?
16:10Let's find out.
16:11So what they do is that sometimes they try to find jobs.
16:14They can't, so they fail to pay the universities.
16:18They become passive students, so they become irregular residents at the same time.
16:24And 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.
16:35So 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.
16:51I mean, actually, many cases.
16:53And they are recently mostly related to trafficking of young African girls into, they're forced into sex work, basically.
17:03So in the exploitation of young African girls, we see African women and African men engage mostly.
17:09But also they have collaboration with some locals as well.
17:13Yeah.
17:14They're adults, but they are also children that also get trafficked as well, you know.
17:19Some of these kids sometimes find themselves in child labor activities.
17:23But, well, this is the case of Northern Cyprus we're talking about.
17:27And, you know, I was reading a bit about Northern Cyprus and I saw like, especially on Facebook, because that's
17:32the 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.
17:43And they even sometimes the scam agents use like fake Cyprus flags, fake Cyprus flags.
17:49And they tell them, you know, you're coming to the EU, you're going to be rich, you're going to get
17:53more.
17:54And this is really a fair mission.
17:55And travel 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.
18:15You 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.
18:21And then you have to just go empty handed without a degree, without a job, without no money.
18:25That is going to be a big deal.
18:27So they find themselves doing jobs that are not legal, because, first of all, if you cannot pay your fees,
18:34then you cannot get your permit.
18:36This is what I understand.
18:37You cannot get your student permit if you cannot pay the first semester fee.
18:42So eventually you are there without any papers.
18:45So people can also use that as an opportunity to exploit you further in their labor 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 were, they are scamming.
19:02So they already know.
19:03So 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, and particular time like that, you are busy on the machine.
19:50I've never told them the real situation I faced over there.
19:55That's because, you see, when I got the job offer, I was expecting that I was going to make something
20:03good and something big out of it.
20:05In the African setup, whenever someone is going somewhere, maybe like abroad, in most cases it's always like a secret.
20:14I happen to have made it very, very much secretive.
20:17And when I left, they knew very little, much about it.
20:44They always have a lot of hopes on me.
20:47So, whenever someone is having hope on you, and then you turn him down, you understand?
20:53It's, you'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.
21:10Even 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,
21:16like maybe driving a very big car after making it in life.
21:20So, the information was, yeah, Sequoia is doing well in town and is alive, but nothing much.
21:29Of course, coming back home, it's not always easy.
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, and 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.
21:58It's a lot to unpack there, but of course, we have Michael, who was at the heart of these reports
22:05as 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.
22:11To chat to the 77 percenters who are...
22:14You're one of us.
22:15Absolutely, I am.
22:16You are the OG of the 77 percenters.
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 face 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.
22:48So that's a huge ball coming out of that country.
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.
22:58But 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.
23:17And 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.
23:29So 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.
23:42But they need to be given the attention that they deserve because they are talking about these things.
23:48They've been speaking about this.
23:49The students, if you're a student, you're a former student of any of the universities in Northern Cyprus,
23:56because it's your responsibility 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.
24:57We'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 frosters.
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.
25:19Yeah, but what do you call them?
25:20Yeah.
25:20When you, people who engage in internet fraud, what do you call them?
25:23So we always think they're from prison.
25:25Oh, 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've been, I'm being scammed.
25:32Oh, that guy's from prison or something.
25:34No, what?
25:34Because they have both their phones.
25:36I see.
25:37Okay.
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.
25:51Until next time.
25:53Until next time.
25:54Goodbye.
25:55Goodbye.
25:56Goodbye.
25:57Goodbye.
25:59Goodbye.
26:00Goodbye.
26:01Goodbye.
26:02Goodbye.
26:03Goodbye.
26:05Goodbye.
26:05Goodbye.
26:05Goodbye.
26:06Goodbye.
26:08Goodbye.
26:09Goodbye.
26:10Goodbye.