A Malaysian humanitarian group has been quietly assisting in the rescue of citizens trafficked into cyber scam syndicates across Southeast Asia.
For families who felt abandoned by the system, the Malaysia Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) became their last resort in bringing loved ones home.
However, as its rescue efforts gained attention, MHO also came under fire, accused of exploiting tragedy and profiting from the desperation of victims’ families.
Its co-founder, lawyer Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim, said he was unfazed by the criticism.
“Everything is done by the book,” he told Twentytwo13.
He clarified that families were always informed about the costs, which typically covered return flights and modest logistical expenses.
“We were transparent. It wasn’t about profit. It was about helping them survive,” he asserted.
For those unable to afford the expenses, MHO collaborated with a non-profit partner to provide financial assistance.
“That’s how we worked around it,” Hishamuddin added.
Since 2021, MHO has responded to hundreds of cases involving Malaysians lured by fake job offers and forced to work in guarded compounds in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
So far, MHO says it has rescued about 400 Malaysians from cyber scam rings. Government figures show up to 750 people have been repatriated as of February.
While authorities faced diplomatic roadblocks or lacked access to conflict zones, MHO operated on the fringes. The group relied on informal channels – activists, local fixers and trusted contacts – to trace victims and coordinate extractions.
According to a 2023 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, about 220,000 people – many from Southeast Asia – have been duped and trafficked into scam operations across Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
A hard start
Hishamuddin recounted the initial challenges, explaining that such cases were first classified as commercial crimes because the victims had been deceived. This classification made it difficult to take action, especially when they only realised the truth after being held captive.
“Take Cambodia, for example,” he said.
“This is why Cambodian authorities did not act on our complaints. Those in scam centres were seen as scammers, not victims.”
Progress only came after the cases were reclassified as human trafficking.
“We now have more evidence to show that it’s a transnational crime. There’s movement and harbouring involved. With that we can build a case and push for action from other countries,” he explained.
Hishamuddin said Malaysian police have supported their efforts.
“While we carry out most of the rescue operations, we do not work alone. We alert the police before going in to rescue victims.”
Families were also advised to lodge police reports about relatives who fell prey to fake job offers and were later trapped in scam centres.
“We also told them not to pay any ransom to the syndicates,” he said.
Before shifting to cross-border rescue operations, MHO focused on legal aid for undocumented Sabahans – many of them stateless and frequently detained due to a lack of identification.
“We assisted them during arrest, providing legal documents to authorities,” Hishamuddin said.
“It wasn’t a free service – we had to cover legal fees and maintain a basic office.”
That initiative was suspended after the Sabah government announced plans to issue special identity cards for the stateless. While MHO supported the idea, Hishamuddin said the programme was never fully implemented.
He said they still maintain a small office in Sabah for those who need help.
Solutions forward
MHO believes the only way to curb the transnational cyber scam trade is to shut down all the scam centres in countries like Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
The organisation has repeatedly called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to take collective action against these illicit operations.
It has urged member states to treat cyber scam centres as a regional security threat, arguing that piecemeal efforts will not be enough to dismantle the networks and protect vulnerable citizens.
“You cannot solve this problem country by country,” Hishamuddin said.
“This needs a regional strategy, ranging from intelligence sharing to enforcement.”
In a statement issued in May, UN experts with the UN Human Rights special procedures expressed alarm over large-scale trafficking for forced labour and forced criminality in scam compounds across Southeast Asia.
“Organised criminal groups are reportedly operating within the context of widespread corruption and impunity, where they benefit from collusion with government officials, politicians, local law enforcement and influential business figures,” the experts said in a joint statement.
Although efforts to combat this complex form of trafficking and exploitation are ongoing, the experts noted that measures taken by countries to identify, protect and assist victims – and to hold perpetrators accountable at all levels – remained inadequate.
Protection against reprisal, they said, is also limited.
