21 people rescued from slavery in Myanmar

Blue Dragon recently mounted one of the biggest rescue operations in our history. After a long, complicated journey, the young men we freed are now safely home in Vietnam.

Calls for help

The first call for help came in July 2024. Three young men reached out to us from a scam compound in Myanmar, where they had spent nearly a year in slavery.

We rescued the men shortly after, but that was just the beginning. This November, two of the men we rescued told us that there were over 20 people still trapped and in need of our help.

It was going to require a very complex operation to rescue such a large number of people, especially with the ongoing civil war in Myanmar. But having already familiarised ourselves with the terrain, we were able to act quickly and decisively, freeing all 21 men from their living nightmare.

Treated like animals

All of the young men were lured to Myanmar by false promises of steady jobs. Upon arrival, their traffickers forced them into scamming others online under threat of torture.

“We were treated like animals,” shared one of the men. “When I left home I was a strong man, but now I’m very small. I don’t know if my own mother will even recognise me.”

Several of the men attempted to escape, but their captors always caught them and dragged them back to the compound. One man made it as far as a nearby river, but as he stared down at the deep, rushing water, he couldn’t quite bring himself to risk jumping.

“I thought about it, but I could have died so easily and my family would never find my body.”

Every time that the traffickers caught the men trying to escape, they tortured them with beatings and starvation as they tried to break their spirits.

But the men remained determined to get home. When one of them found a phone, they reached out to the people that Blue Dragon had rescued in August, who in turn passed the information on to us.

Ten days later, we mounted one of the biggest rescue operations in our 20-year history.

A long way home

Drawing on our prior experience of the area, we returned to the compound and successfully helped the 21 men to escape. They were hungry, bruised and exhausted – and a very long way from home.

To avoid detection, Blue Dragon split the men into three groups who took separate routes back to Vietnam. Each group crossed mountains, rivers and jungles, staying quiet and camping among thick trees.

The traffickers had stolen important legal documents from the men, further complicating matters as they crossed several international borders on the way home. But the men kept going until they were finally back in Vietnam.

“When I returned to Vietnam, I couldn’t believe that I was still alive.”

The 21 escapees had to trek through dense jungle to reach safety.

Recovery

Blue Dragon will now support the men we rescued as they begin to rebuild their lives. Whether they need psychological support, career guidance or help getting back into school, we are here for them.

Now aged between 18 to 32, some of the men had been enslaved for two years when we rescued them, and will require long-term support to regain a sense of normality.

Since forced online scamming first emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become a major form of human trafficking from Vietnam, disrupting and destroying the lives of some of the country’s most vulnerable people.

By combining rescue operations like this, all-encompassing support to help the people we rescue reclaim their lives, and community initiatives to prevent human trafficking before it happens, we will end this horrific crime for good.