ISEAS Perspective - Global Inequality and Digital Vulnerability: Unpacking Online Scams and Human Trafficking

Indonesian nationals who were victims of human trafficking in Myanmar arrive at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten province, on 28 February 2025, after being flown from Thailand, following their handover by the Myanmar government | Photo by DENNYS/AFP.

In this paper published by NYSEAN Partner ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Surachanee Sriyai discusses how online scams and digital-enabled human trafficking have escalated into complex transnational operations affecting about 200,000 in Cambodia and Myanmar in 2023 alone. She asserts that economic inclusion, social safety nets, digital literacy, and international cooperation are needed to tackle root vulnerabilities to online scams.

Surachanee Sriyai is Visiting Fellow with the Media, Technology, and Society Program at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. She is the Interim Director of the Center for Sustainable Humanitarian Action with Displaced Ethnic Communities (SHADE) under the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University.