Some Chinese and Taiwanese were enticed to go to Southeast Asian countries for work and were then kidnapped there and forced to conduct telemarketing fraud against the Chinese people. Recently Little Chen, a man trapped in Myawaddy, Myanmar, called Radio Free Asia (RFA) to help. An RFA reporter spent a month attempting to contact various authorities in China to request help for him, but not a single office extended a hand.
Little Chen was from Hunan Province. He and two other fellow Hunan residents were sold by kidnappers to the East Wind Park in Myawaddy. He said that over 1,000 Chinese were working as slaves at that park. The slave master asked for US$30,000 to give him his freedom, but his family did not have the money. The slaves were closely monitored and were not allowed to contact their family members or friends for help.
Somehow Little Chen’s friend managed to contact his family in Hunan. His family reported the situation to the Hunan police, but the police took no action and instead, asked him to come back to China and warned that he would face criminal charge if he did not come back soon.
An RFA reporter tried to contract China’s Embassy at Myanmar, but none of the calls to listed public phone numbers went through. The reporter then contacted the Hunan Provincial Police Bureau, but the officer there rejected the request for help. The reporter contacted the office of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was told to contact the diplomat security bureau. The reporter contacted the diplomat security bureau, but the bureau staff said this was not their responsibility. The reporter contacted China’s Embassy in Thailand, since Thailand was just next to Myawaddy. The embassy referred the reporter to contact the Chinese Consulate General in Chiang Mai. The consulate told the reporter they knew that many Chinese were trapped in Myanmar, but said it was outside their scope. Only if those Chinese came to Thailand could they help. However, they do not suggest that they cross the Thai border since that is illegal. The reporter asked the progress of the joint effort to clean-out the telemarketing fraud by China, Myanmar, and Thailand; but the consulate staff said there is no such thing at all.
Little Chen has been losing his hope.
Source: Radio Free Asia, May 5, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/myanmar-05052023125339.html