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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
