US aid freeze sets back fight against human trafficking

A family runs across the street near a building, where some people trafficked under false pretenses are forced to work in online scams targeting people all over the world, in Phnom Penh

President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign assistance has dealt a blow to organizations fighting human trafficking and forced labor in Cambodia, where tens of thousands of people are held captive and forced to work in call centers running telephone scams.

Hundreds of thousands of people work in remote compounds in countries including Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos where they run online scams targeting people all over the world, including Americans, according to U.N. estimates. Some are trafficked and lured to the jobs under false pretenses and forced to work against their will.

A shelter for people who manage to leave these compounds run by the Catholic charity Caritas recently let some victims go and may stop accepting further victims due to the funding squeeze, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said.

The shelter, in the capital Phnom Penh is the only one not operated by the government which takes in victims of scam compounds, both foreign and Cambodian. The sources declined to be named because they were concerned about retaliation from the Trump administration.

The funding freeze has also halted civil-society-assisted rescue work and related programs on preventing human trafficking.

The compounds operate with support from some local elites. Last October, the U.S. sanctioned Ly Yong Phat, a leading member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party of Prime Minister Hun Manet, for owning businesses that have trafficked people and forced to work in online scam centers.

The blow to civil society efforts comes as a small network of society and independent media addressing Cambodia’s scam compounds are already under intense government pressure. Independent media outlets have been shuttered, and a prominent Cambodian investigative journalist who had reported on the issue was arrested.

The Trump Administration froze U.S. foreign assistance in January, upending projects all over the world that ranged from providing medications to HIV patients to humanitarian assistance to people displaced by conflict.

While there are other shelters in Cambodia, the one operated by Caritas “is the only qualified and competent shelter,” said Jake Sims, a co-founder of Shamrock, a public-private coalition working to combat transnational organized cybercrime. It offers victims trauma-informed care, as well as help with visas and legal support so they can go back to their home countries.

The Caritas shelter received financial support from Winrock International, USAID’s partner in Cambodia. It was due to receive about $1 million from USAID over the course of two years, the sources said. The shelter was also partially funded by IOM, a United Nations agency which is largely funded by the U.S.

Neither USAID, IOM nor the government of Cambodia responded to requests for comment.

Some people manage to leave the compounds, either making their own escapes — sometimes jumping out of windows — or relying on a few rescue operators who assist the Cambodian police. There’s also a Cambodian government rescue hotline.

When victims do get out, they often have trouble returning home. They are usually held in police custody and then sent on to immigration detention where they may linger for months. Many don’t have any savings and may need legal help if they entered the country illegally with smugglers, rescuers say.

Shelters are critical for ensuring victims don’t wind up being trafficked again, said Mina Chiang, founder of Humanity Research Consultancy, which has conducted research on the scam compounds in the region.

“In 2022, my team and I have learnt cases where Taiwanese survivors became homeless on the streets of Cambodia after escaping the scam compounds,” she said. “There have also been cases where survivors were hunted down by criminals after they had escaped.”

Li Ling, a rescue worker who has referred cases to the Caritas shelter, said she has had to stop assisting in rescues of scam workers because of the funding freeze.

Six victims left the shelter as soon as it got a stop-work order, and two of them have subsequently disappeared, said Li, who’s also a PhD student at Ca’Foscari University of Venice studying cyber-enabled modern slavery. She had asked them to stay in regular contact after their departure and said she is concerned they may have wound up back in a scam compound, as they did not have any savings and planned to look for jobs for food and shelter.

Other organizations that support scam center victims have also taken a hit from the funding freeze, such as one which provides medical assistance to victims who injured in escapes, said Li.

For example, last year, they had helped someone who jumped out of a building to escape a scam compound. The organization helped pay for the emergency surgery for the victim, but that source of funds has also stopped.

The funding freeze has also led to the cancellation of other related programs focused on preventing human trafficking.

One non-profit organization registered in the region was due to start a training program with community journalists across Southeast Asia to raise awareness about scam compounds and their recruitment processes. Another labor-focused organization was due to start a training program with labor unions in six Southeast Asian countries on recognizing signs of trafficking, the sources with knowledge of the funding said.

The organizations asked to not be named due to the fear of government retaliation.

Ongoing research funded by to keep track of the latest developments in the scam compounds and the Cambodian government response has also been halted, the source with knowledge of the funding said. Research consultants funded by USAID’s counter-trafficking program wrote internal reports for the agency on the criminal activity that are also sometimes shared with Congressional staff, as well as different parts of the U.S. government.

“With U.S. government support now abruptly removed, we can expect an acceleration in civil society repression,” Jake Sims.

Last October, the Cambodian government arrested a well-known investigative journalist who had reported extensively on the proliferation of scam compounds in the country.

After widespread international attention and the support of local media organizations, journalist Mech Dara was released on bail after about a month. Afterward, he made a public statement that he would quit journalism.

Even if new funding is secured, restarting anti-trafficking programs could be more costly, since programs have already been shuttered and contract workers have been let go.

“The knock-on effect of the USAID funding freeze extends beyond the trafficking and re-trafficking of vulnerable people; it strengthens criminal networks, allowing them to expand their operations,” said Humanity Research Consultancy’s Chiang. HUIZHONG WU, BANGKOK, MDT/AP