The Myanmar government has reportedly banned a new book that documents the trafficking of African and Asian workers into illegal “cyberscam compounds” located along its borders.
The book, titled The Kafala System, was published by the Saad Kassis-Mohamed Center, a South Africa-based research and advocacy organization. It details the harrowing conditions of thousands of trafficked individuals held in compounds in Myawaddy, near the Thai border, and in Shan State, along the Chinese frontier.
The book examines the Kafala system, a sponsorship-based labor regime used in the Gulf states, Jordan, and Lebanon, and draws a provocative parallel to the extralegal captivity found in Myanmar’s scam operations. According to the authors, both systems are rooted in a single principle: stripping migrant workers of their power to leave or control their own movement.
While the Kafala system is a legal framework tying a worker’s status to a single employer, the Myanmar compounds represent an extreme form of forced labor where victims are held by force. Researchers argue that once a worker’s right to leave is removed for the sake of profit, they become vulnerable to devastating exploitation.
Survivors who have escaped these compounds describe a landscape of extreme violence. Workers—including nationals from Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Philippines—are often recruited with promises of legitimate jobs before being trafficked across borders.
Once inside, they are forced to run online fraud operations. Those who fail to meet fraud quotas face severe punishment, including:
- Beatings and electric shocks.
- Being suspended by their wrists for extended periods.
The Saad Kassis-Mohamed Center notes that the ban on the book aligns with a documented pattern of Myanmar authorities resisting external scrutiny while scam industries continue to expand and relocate rather than close.
Despite the suppression of the text, the Center maintains that the ban does not alter the reality of the survivors’ testimonies.
“Our reporting on the treatment of African migrants in Myanmar has led to this book being suppressed,” said Saad Kassis-Mohamed, Chairman of the Center. “That only confirms how urgently this account needed to be told”. Marcine Graham, the Center’s Executive Director, added that while a book can be banned, the experiences of survivors cannot be undone, and the organization’s responsibility is to keep telling their stories until action is taken.
In light of the findings, the Center has issued several demands to the international community:
- Myanmar must permit independent investigations into the scam compounds and cooperate in identifying and rescuing trafficked workers.
- African and Philippine governments should expand consular support and safe-return pathways for their citizens.
- Gulf states, Jordan, and Lebanon are urged to accelerate reforms to the Kafala system so that legal status no longer depends on a single employer.
The Saad Kassis-Mohamed Center is an independent, non-partisan organization supported by the WeCare Foundation. It works directly with United Nations mechanisms to advocate for those facing institutional failure and denial of rights.
