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16-year-old Aung brought to safety from trafficking in Myanmar

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16-year-old Aung brought to safety from trafficking in Myanmar

June 2023

16-year-old Aung* is now safe and recovering from slavery - thanks to the support of people like you.

After Aung was deceived by a false job offer and trafficked into the fishing industry, he was forced to work without pay for more than 12 hours a day – even when he was unwell.

Aung thought he might never see his family again
. But his mum was fighting to get him back.

Desperate to find him, she contacted a local NGO, who reported the situation to the Anti-Trafficking Task Force. Thanks to her determination, the police brought Aung to safety.  

“I’m thankful to have my son back.
We don’t want other parents to go through the same feelings we had when our child disappeared,” says Aung’s mother.  

With your support, IJM provided Aung with vital aftercare to recover from what he’d been through. Today, he’s back in school with his friends. Like many teenagers, Aung dreams of becoming a footballer.

Aung is now safe. But Myanmar has recently seen a massive explosion in a new, brutal form of trafficking: forced scamming.

Right now, people are being trafficked, trapped and forced to scam people like you and me.

With ongoing unrest in Myanmar, people like Aung are at greater risk of trafficking and forced labour.

Trafficking is evolving and making more people vulnerable. See how we're working to stop new forms like forced scamming

*Pseudonym. For the protection of our client we have obscured the faces of Aung and his family

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