In a harrowing tale of deceit and survival, a 26-year-old man from Hubei province in central China was recently rescued after being trapped in forced labor for three years. The man, known as Zhang, had initially set off on what he believed to be a discounted holiday to an undisclosed location in Southeast Asia in November 2019, a trip that turned into a nightmare of captivity and exploitation.
Zhang, enticed by a seemingly lucrative travel deal costing 4,500 yuan (US$630), found himself in a dire situation shortly after his arrival. He was swiftly taken to a factory district and coerced into working for an online gambling ring. His personal belongings, including his phone, identity card, and passport, were confiscated, leaving him isolated and vulnerable.
Tasked with sales roles to recruit individuals to the gambling platform, Zhang struggled due to his honest nature, which led to frequent physical abuse. Six months into his ordeal, his captors offered his release for a ransom of 111,000 yuan (US$15,500). Despite his family paying the sum, Zhang’s release was denied, and he was sold to another company, perpetuating his cycle of captivity.
Over the year, Zhang’s family depleted their savings, paying approximately one million yuan (US$140,000) in total, but to no avail. Zhang’s turning point came when he was hospitalized due to severe injuries from a beating. Although an initial attempt to escape through a local agent backfired, leading to his sale to a third company, Zhang found a stroke of luck. The lax nature of this new company allowed him to contact local police using a phone.
In October 2022, local authorities intervened and rescued Zhang, who finally returned to China. His story, now circulating on Chinese social media, serves as a stark warning about the perils of too-good-to-be-true travel deals and the importance of choosing official travel agencies for overseas trips.
Zhang’s case is not isolated. In recent years, there has been an alarming trend of Chinese nationals falling victim to forced labor in Southeast Asia through deceptive “dream job” offers. These scams typically promise high salaries but result in kidnapping and forced labor, similar to Zhang’s experience.
Hong Kong, too, has been grappling with a human trafficking trend, with 38 residents in 2022 tricked into moving to Southeast Asian countries, where they were kidnapped and compelled to work under dire conditions. Reports from these victims include torture, sexual assault, and threats of organ harvesting, highlighting the severe risks associated with fraudulent employment and travel schemes in the region. Zhang’s rescue brings attention to these ongoing issues and the need for vigilance against such exploitative practices.
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