FARID left his home in Narowal in search of a better future. A local agent charged him Rs800,000, promising him a well-paid job abroad. What awaited him, however, was nothing he could have imagined. For two years, he says, he was held in a prison-like compound near the Cambodia-Laos border. His passport had been confiscated, his movements were restricted, and his dreams shattered.
Farid’s job was to cook for hundreds of people who, like him, had been trafficked and trapped in scam centres. His working day began at 9am and continued until 4am, leaving him barely a few hours to rest. Any defiance was met with torture, including electric shocks. When authorities launched a crackdown on the scam centre, Farid managed to escape. But his freedom was short-lived as he was apprehended by Cambodian police and remains in a detention centre, waiting to return home.
Despite attempts to seek assistance through Pakistani diplomatic channels, Farid struggled to secure support. He approached the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) for help, but twice his return was held up by documentation requirements.
Farid’s story is not unique. In May 2026, the government informed the National Assembly of approximately 15,000 Pakistanis reportedly caught up in fraudulent employment schemes or in camps across Southeast Asia. As authorities have begun cracking down on these operations, thousands of Pakistanis now face difficulties returning home. Some need emergency travel documents, while others face penalties and bureaucratic delays. The same parents who struggled to finance their children’s journey abroad are now having to raise more money to bring them home.
We need to look more closely at recruitment networks.
Part of the difficulty is that those who have been trafficked are not always recognised as victims. Young people recruited in one country and forced to commit online fraud in another may themselves face arrest when these operations are raided. Their expired visas or confiscated passports become grounds for detention, while the deception and abuse they have suffered receive far less attention. Worse still, confiscated passports and identity documents may be misused by criminal networks to commit further fraud, potentially implicating victims in crimes they never committed. Even after escaping their traffickers, they stay behind bars, while those who exploited them often remain beyond the reach of the law.
Across its 2025 and 2026 investigations, Amnesty International identified nearly 100 scam compounds in Southeast Asia, documenting human trafficking, forced labour and torture. As authorities have begun raiding these operations, there are worrying signs that similar criminal networks are now taking root in other parts of the world, including Pakistan.
In August 2026, a raid on a suspected illegal call centre in Islamabad resulted in the detention of 500 foreign nationals, including Chinese and Vietnamese citizens. During a visit to Adiala Jail, we met approximately 70 women detained in connection with fraudulent activities.
Were they knowingly involved in fraud, or had some been deceived or coerced into working there? Online fraud is a serious crime and those responsible must be held accountable. But enforcement must distinguish between those who organise and profit from these operations and those who may themselves be victims of exploitation.
Pakistan already has institutions responsible for different aspects of call-centre operations. Yet many of them operate without registration, and there is insufficient monitoring to ensure that these establishments comply with the law.
A regularly updated registry, coupled with effective oversight, would help authorities distinguish between legitimate businesses and unregistered operations. We also need to look more closely at the recruitment networks operating within Pakistan. Who is offering these jobs? Who receives payment? And what action is taken when families report that someone has been trafficked abroad?
There must be closer coordination between cybercrime investigators, immigration authorities, anti-trafficking agencies and Pakistan’s diplomatic missions. Foreign nationals arrested in suspected scam operations should be screened for possible trafficking and provided with legal assistance. Pakistanis stranded abroad must have access to timely documentation and repatriation, including in countries without a resident embassy.
These are basic responsibilities of a government towards its citizens and towards people who may have been trafficked into its territory.
Farid is still waiting in Cambodia, having survived an experience no one should have to endure. It should not be so difficult to bring him home.
The writer is the chairperson of the National Commission for Human Rights.
Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2026
