KK Park explained
| KK Park |
| Type: | Fraud factory and human trafficking hub |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Map: | Myanmar |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Myanmar |
| Coordinates: | 16.6476°N 98.5207°W |
| Location: | Myawaddy, Kayin State, Myanmar |
KK Park (Chinese: KK園區) is a fraud factory located in Myawaddy, Myanmar. Located next to the Moei River on the Myanmar–Thailand border, the complex is a major hub of Internet fraud and human trafficking within the larger Golden Triangle region.[1]
Workers from across Southeast Asia have been coerced into performing online scams, including cryptocurrency investment, and enduring torture and unlawful imprisonment.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] A 2024 investigation by German state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle found that workers at KK Park are subjected to 17-hour workdays and are frequently spied on, tortured, and threatened with murder when attempting to flee the compound.[8] [9]
A representative of the USIP stated that there are at least 20,000 scam workers in KK Park and a similar park in Shwe Kokko as of July 2023.
The complex was constructed between 2019 and 2021, with additional construction ongoing as of 2023.
The project is said to be jointly established by the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed organization that controls parts of Kayin State, and Chinese companies affiliated with triad leader Wan Kuok-koi. The KNU has been under pressure over its alleged involvement in KK Park and other illegal activities, and has faced demands for the resignation of some of its senior members.[10] Former workers identified soldiers of the Myanmar Border Guard Forces as being present in the complex.
The KNU has announced that it will investigate five of its members accused of having connections with KK Park, and that it will cooperate with China and Thailand to rid the border area of crime.[11]
See also
Notes and References
- News: Karen National Union Under Pressure Over Crime Hub . 28 August 2023 . Irrawaddy . February 28, 2023.
- News: McCready . Alastair . 22 July 2023 . Inside the Chinese-run crime hubs of Myanmar that are conning the world: 'we can kill you here' . South China Morning Post . 28 August 2023.
- News: Huang . Xiaoshan . 9 May 2023 . Plea for help from telephone scam victims falls on deaf ears among Chinese officials . 28 August 2023.
- News: 18 May 2022 . Malaysian job scam victim tells of 'prison', beatings in Myanmar .
- News: 16 May 2023 . 6 Filipinos rescued from human trafficking syndicates in Myanmar . CNN Philippines . https://web.archive.org/web/20230520122210/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2023/5/16/trafficking-victims-rescued-myanmar.html . dead . May 20, 2023 . 28 August 2023.
- News: Lam . Eunice . 29 Aug 2022 . HK victim tells of misery in Myanmar hellholes . The Standard . 28 August 2023.
- Web site: Wong . Tesse . 21 September 2022 . Cambodia scams: Lured and trapped into slavery in South East Asia . 28 August 2023 . BBC . English.
- Web site: How Chinese mafia run a scam factory in Myanmar – DW – 01/30/2024 . 2024-02-12 . dw.com . en. https://web.archive.org/web/20240301075513/https://www.dw.com/en/how-chinese-mafia-run-a-scam-factory-in-myanmar/a-68113480. March 1, 2024.
- Web site: Surrounded by Fighting, a Myanmar Crime Hub Is Oddly Unscathed. 2024-03-16 . The Irrawaddy . en. https://web.archive.org/web/20240314125516/https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/investigation/surrounded-by-fighting-a-myanmar-crime-hub-is-oddly-unscathed.html. March 14, 2024.
- Web site: McCready . Alastair . Mendelson . Allegra . July 22, 2023 . Survivors of Myanmar's Scam Mills Talk 'Torture,' Death, Organ Harvesting—and the Battle To Escape . Pulitzer Center.
- Web site: McCready . Alastair . Mendelson . Allegra . July 22, 2023 . Exclusive: Inside the Chinese-Run Crime Hubs of Myanmar that Are Conning the World: 'We Can Kill You Here' .
