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dramatic tense music

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Were there guidebooks        
       on how to scam people?

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[group] Yes!

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[man] First, 10,000.

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[Henri VO] $8 million.

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[woman VO] My entire        
        savings ended up going

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into this account.

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You fatten up the          
    platform kind of like a pig.

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The scammers started        
         using forced labor.

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[Natashya VO]           
          Once you're inside,

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there's nothing that        
        you can do to get out.

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And that's when           
       the nightmare starts.

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Yup.

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How many people here were      
    there last June in Melilla?

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[David VO] On June 24th, about 
     2,000 migrants tried to cross

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the border from          
         Morocco into Melilla.

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They pay the poor               
 country like Morocco.

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"Shoot them, kill them, but    
       don't let them come out."

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[David] I think we         
      should circle the block.

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The European Union has        
     managed to entirely avoid

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accountability.

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There's ample evidence to      
     suggest they died and were

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forcibly disappeared at   
         the hands of authorities.

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It's for the national        
    authorities to investigate.

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dramatic theme music

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[shouting]

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Hoorah!

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[blasts]

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[garbled snippets         
              of chatter]

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tense ethereal music

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[Henri VO] Two years ago, I    
     started becoming interested in

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cryptocurrency,

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and I started doing some      
       research on the Internet.

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Discord was used,

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and all kinds of platforms      
    like Telegram and WhatsApp,

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and people would          
    communicate with each other.

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Then, I got this...

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really innocent-looking      
           WhatsApp message

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from Milia Lee           
           from Los Angeles,

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and she said she was        
        a Korean businesswoman.

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[electronic chiming]

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I got a DM on Instagram,

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and it was from a fairly       
     good-looking Chinese man.

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We chatted a little bit.

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Some minutes later,        
             he was like,

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"Do you mind if I get       
          your phone number?"

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And then that just sort       
   of started a series of, like,

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nonstop texting           
       for a full two months.

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[man VO] Her name was Jessica.

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She was very friendly.

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She was very compassionate.

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I was able to share what I'm...

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going through.

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November 24th is when she      
     finally introduced me to

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cryptocurrency.

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[Natashya VO] More and more     
 Americans are falling victim to

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cryptocurrency scams,

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with the FBI recording more than 
     $2.5 billion stolen in 2022 --

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a 183 percent           
           increase on 2021.

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Fueling this rise is        
         one scam from Asia,

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where criminal groups target    
     victims through social media,

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messaging apps,           
          and online dating,

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building personal relationships   
      before proposing lucrative

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investment opportunities.

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I was introduced to this      
     platform called Genesis Bit,

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which was a binary          
     options trading platform.

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The first trading session,

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I made about 1200 dollars with 
      a portfolio of about 4,000,

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which was incredible return    
      on investment for anything.

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From time to time, I         
       did some withdrawals,

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because I wanted to see if     
     the whole process worked.

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Then, I put in more money --    
 I think up to about $8 million.

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[man] First, 10,000...

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20,000...

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all the way up to          
     close to 500,000 already.

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My entire savings ended       
    up going into this account.

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[Natashya VO] Only when it's    
     too late is the scam revealed.

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I put in a request         
         to withdraw, like,

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$12 million.

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Um...

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and this was rejected.

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[woman VO] I was told by the    
     customer service that I needed

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to pay a tax.

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It didn't make any sense to me.

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I'm like, "Okay,          
     something is clearly wrong,"

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so then I-- I woke          
        up from this dream.

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[man VO] December 3rd is      
       when I lost $1.2 million.

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I tried to call her up.

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I panic.

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She wasn't picking up.

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I was very suicidal.

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I mean, that 1.2 million      
       is 30 years of our lives.

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I knew right then and        
     there that this is a scam.

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tense music

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[electronic chiming]

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[Natashya VO] These scams often   
     start with a harmless text,

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seemingly received by accident.

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But behind the           
     innocent-looking profiles is a

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multi-billion-dollar criminal   
     operation run by Chinese gangs

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in places like Cambodia,      
          Myanmar, and Laos.

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They've exploited the weak law 
     enforcement in these countries

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to set up             
     industrial-scale scam centers,

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where thousands of workers     
      engage in what's known as

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Shaz Hu Pán,

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or "pig butchering."

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Jason Tower is a transnational 
       crime and security expert

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for the United States       
          Institute of Peace.

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The reason it's called "pig      
 butchering" is once you've got

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the victim putting         
      money into the platform,

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it's kind of like a pig, and    
 once you sort of see the pig has

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reached its ideal weight,      
   you go ahead and slaughter it,

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and that's the moment where      
 the perpetrator will basically

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disappear with all of the funds.

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Who are these scammers?

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Where are they coming from?

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The scammers themselves          
 initially were from China,

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but the crackdown in China        
   has become quite severe.

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This is highly labor intensive 
 because it requires people going

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onto social media          
         to identify victims,

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so the scammers actually       
    started using forced labor;

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they started kidnapping,      
           they started,

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you know, buying          
         and selling labor,

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so, increasingly, the people    
     who are the ones that are the

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perpetrators are also       
          victims themselves.

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[Natashya VO] There are now    
 dozens of massive scam compounds

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across Southeast Asia, where    
 tens of thousands of trafficking

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victims from the          
        Philippines, Indonesia,

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Vietnam, and elsewhere work    
 under constant threat of torture

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and violence.

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-[taser buzzing]          
          -[man shrieking]

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[woman sobbing]

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tense music

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The shocking scale of these scam 
     centers was first exposed here

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in Sihanoukville, Cambodia,    
      by a group of investigative

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journalists at the         
      Cambodia-based news agency

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Voice of Democracy.

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00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,200
Danielle Keeton-Olsen       
     contributed to that reporting.

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Are there any signs that       
   will tell me if this building

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is suspicious?

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I mean, the compounds        
      themselves are somewhat

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innocuous, but there's       
        a lot of indicators.

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Number one is a casino        
    close by or attached to it.

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If you see bars on the       
       window or barbed wire,

144
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a parking lot entrance with     
   guards at the front who won't

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let you in, these are usually    
   some good signs that this is a

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scam company.

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So how do the            
        workers end up here?

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Sometimes it's a           
       job post on Facebook,

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or a job placement agency     
        recruiting in Cambodia,

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00:07:24,986 --> 00:07:27,572
and sometimes they         
         even have interviews.

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00:07:27,613 --> 00:07:30,241
But once they agree,        
      they'll, you know, like,

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very quickly be brought by     
      some means into Cambodia

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and then put into one             
   of these companies,

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and their passport          
    would be taken at the door.

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00:07:38,624 --> 00:07:40,042
And that's when           
       the nightmare starts?

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00:07:40,084 --> 00:07:41,294
Yup.

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[Natashya VO] Cambodia has     
     faced international pressure

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00:07:43,504 --> 00:07:45,089
to act.

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00:07:45,131 --> 00:07:47,592
Late last year, authorities    
      raided compounds across the

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00:07:47,633 --> 00:07:50,802
country, finding          
 thousands of foreigners inside.

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00:07:50,845 --> 00:07:52,263
[siren]

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Despite this, scam centers     
       continue to operate with

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impunity in Cambodia and beyond.

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moody synth music

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[Natashya] We're in Mae Sot, a    
 town in Northern Thailand right

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00:08:04,567 --> 00:08:06,819
by the border of Myanmar.

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After the crackdown in       
      Cambodia late last year,

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the scam centers have expanded    
 to other countries in Southeast

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Asia, including Myanmar.

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Here in Mae Sot is         
      where many of the victims,

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when they're rescued,       
       cross back into Thailand.

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[chicks chirping]

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[Natashya VO] Emmanuel Sinoy    
     is a Filipino baptist minister

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who volunteers to help foreign 
       nationals freed from scam

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centers across the         
          border in Myanmar.

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For them to get                   
 out from there,

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it's just like getting out     
          of slavery or...

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or jail.

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They are still afraid,

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and so what we are doing          
   is to make them calm,

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telling them that "You       
      are going to be safe here,

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you are going to be okay,"

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00:08:51,739 --> 00:08:54,325
in spite of what they       
          have been through.

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00:08:54,367 --> 00:08:57,537
Have there been any risks      
     for you doing this work?

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00:08:57,578 --> 00:09:00,414
It is risky, but...

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00:09:00,456 --> 00:09:02,833
we have to just...

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00:09:02,875 --> 00:09:06,045
doing it being careful.

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00:09:06,295 --> 00:09:08,422
[Natashya VO] While we       
      were filming with Emmanuel,

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00:09:08,464 --> 00:09:10,800
he received a call confirming   
      that a group of trafficking

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victims were being         
        released from Myanmar.

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00:09:24,689 --> 00:09:26,691
[Natashya] Okay.          
             Let's go.

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00:09:26,732 --> 00:09:28,734
suspenseful music

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00:09:28,776 --> 00:09:31,070
We've been told that six      
     Filipinos were released from a

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00:09:31,112 --> 00:09:33,489
scam center in Myanmar.

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00:09:33,531 --> 00:09:36,867
They're currently on their way   
 to the river to try and cross it

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00:09:36,909 --> 00:09:38,703
to get here to Thailand.

197
00:09:50,631 --> 00:09:53,384
So they go to a           
     quieter part of the river?

198
00:09:54,802 --> 00:09:56,762
[Natashya] But the moment      
       they cross the river

199
00:09:56,804 --> 00:09:59,181
and get to Mae           
         Sot, they're safe?

200
00:10:00,057 --> 00:10:02,435
Until then,                   
 anything can happen.

201
00:10:03,978 --> 00:10:05,771
[Natashya VO] Upon         
         leaving the compound,

202
00:10:05,813 --> 00:10:08,608
the victims were driven to     
 the border and made to covertly

203
00:10:08,649 --> 00:10:11,611
cross the river, which is     
      heavily guarded by military

204
00:10:11,652 --> 00:10:14,113
personnel from both sides.

205
00:10:14,155 --> 00:10:15,740
Once they made it         
           to the Thai side,

206
00:10:15,781 --> 00:10:18,784
a driver picked them up and    
 dropped them off near a hotel in

207
00:10:18,826 --> 00:10:21,579
the city center,          
          where we met them.

208
00:10:21,621 --> 00:10:23,789
tense music

209
00:10:57,740 --> 00:10:59,325
[Natashya VO]           
          Later that evening,

210
00:10:59,367 --> 00:11:01,285
the group explained how they    
 were tricked into working at the

211
00:11:01,327 --> 00:11:02,828
scam compound.

212
00:11:15,883 --> 00:11:18,177
Was there a job           
       interview or nothing?

213
00:11:18,219 --> 00:11:20,638
[man] Yes, you just need         
 to send a video introducing

214
00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:22,014
yourself.

215
00:11:22,056 --> 00:11:23,849
And then they say, 
                "Congratulations,

216
00:11:23,891 --> 00:11:26,352
-you've been accepted?"       
        -[group] Yes, yeah.

217
00:11:33,067 --> 00:11:35,861
[Natashya VO] Were there      
       guidebooks on how to scam

218
00:11:35,903 --> 00:11:36,696
people?

219
00:11:36,737 --> 00:11:37,863
[group VO] Yes.

220
00:11:37,905 --> 00:11:39,365
[woman VO] "Get to         
           know each other.

221
00:11:39,407 --> 00:11:41,325
Ask the hobbies."

222
00:11:41,367 --> 00:11:44,787
What day do you                 
 then ask for money?

223
00:11:51,794 --> 00:11:54,338
[man] If you don't have more      
   than 100 conversations --

224
00:11:54,380 --> 00:11:56,340
good conversations -- 
               with your client,

225
00:11:56,382 --> 00:11:59,552
they'll go, "You need to run    
    under the heat of the sun."

226
00:12:07,601 --> 00:12:09,145
[Natashya VO]           
           After six months,

227
00:12:09,186 --> 00:12:11,522
the group reached out to      
     Philippine embassy officials,

228
00:12:11,564 --> 00:12:13,899
asking for assistance       
            to be released.

229
00:12:13,941 --> 00:12:16,318
When the bosses at         
        the facility found out,

230
00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,696
they were detained         
         in a room and abused,

231
00:12:18,738 --> 00:12:21,240
and told they could not leave   
     until their families came up

232
00:12:21,282 --> 00:12:23,743
with ransom money         
           for each of them.

233
00:12:41,135 --> 00:12:43,387
[man] Every night,         
          the boss came --

234
00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:44,555
"Do you have money already?

235
00:12:44,597 --> 00:12:46,098
Do you have money already?"

236
00:12:46,140 --> 00:12:48,976
-- and if you cannot answer him, 
    they were gonna hit you more

237
00:12:49,018 --> 00:12:51,395
than 10 times.

238
00:12:51,979 --> 00:12:53,606
They hit us a metal.

239
00:12:53,647 --> 00:12:55,941
-[woman VO] A metal.       
        -[man VO] A solid metal.

240
00:12:55,983 --> 00:12:57,610
[Natashya VO] A rod.

241
00:12:57,651 --> 00:13:00,780
dark ambient music

242
00:13:06,535 --> 00:13:09,538
[woman] When I saw the       
       Chinese guys laughing

243
00:13:09,580 --> 00:13:13,250
and they are hitting,             
   we all just cried.

244
00:13:23,260 --> 00:13:25,429
[Natashya VO] The group not    
 only has to carry these physical

245
00:13:25,471 --> 00:13:28,140
and psychological scars       
       from their forced labor,

246
00:13:28,182 --> 00:13:31,936
but the emotional burden from   
 the scams they participated in.

247
00:13:31,977 --> 00:13:36,941
Can you show us the         
 persona that you were imitating?

248
00:13:36,982 --> 00:13:38,943
[woman] This is my model.

249
00:13:38,984 --> 00:13:41,237
[Natashya] By "model," do you 
     mean you just took her photos

250
00:13:41,278 --> 00:13:43,572
-online?              
           -[woman] Yeah.

251
00:13:43,614 --> 00:13:44,990
Why did you choose her?

252
00:13:45,032 --> 00:13:46,826
[woman] Because           
         she is very rich.

253
00:13:46,867 --> 00:13:49,370
She have a lot of             
 picture from Los Angeles,

254
00:13:49,411 --> 00:13:51,622
she's always on                  
 the business trip.

255
00:13:51,664 --> 00:13:52,832
Who were you targeting?

256
00:13:52,873 --> 00:13:53,999
Where were they from?

257
00:13:54,041 --> 00:13:57,002
[woman] Canada,                  
 Australia, and US.

258
00:13:57,044 --> 00:13:58,671
-So Western men.          
           -[woman] Yeah.

259
00:13:58,712 --> 00:13:59,839
How old?

260
00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:04,426
[woman] Like, we have a       
      age of 40 to 40 and up.

261
00:14:04,468 --> 00:14:06,010
-40 and above?           
           -[woman] Yeah.

262
00:14:06,053 --> 00:14:09,139
[Natashya] Did you feel guilty 
    using this person to fool all

263
00:14:09,181 --> 00:14:10,850
-these men?             
        -[woman] Yeah, yeah.

264
00:14:31,078 --> 00:14:32,997
[Natashya VO] How          
       much worse can this get?

265
00:14:33,038 --> 00:14:37,877
The criminal syndicates and the   
   expansion of this activity is

266
00:14:37,918 --> 00:14:42,214
way beyond the pace of the     
    response by law enforcement.

267
00:14:42,256 --> 00:14:45,718
The syndicates themselves are   
     constantly looking for spaces

268
00:14:45,759 --> 00:14:49,054
around the globe where       
     they can exploit either weak,

269
00:14:49,096 --> 00:14:52,892
poor, or nonexistent governance, 
 and that's why this really is a

270
00:14:52,933 --> 00:14:56,103
problem that             
    requires a global solution.

271
00:14:56,145 --> 00:14:57,938
I think we live          
           in a digital age,

272
00:14:57,980 --> 00:15:00,441
and especially           
          after the pandemic,

273
00:15:00,482 --> 00:15:03,652
we've all gotten really      
        used to trusting people

274
00:15:03,694 --> 00:15:05,988
that we've never met in person.

275
00:15:06,030 --> 00:15:08,282
[man VO] Maybe they are a     
       victim themselves as much

276
00:15:08,324 --> 00:15:09,700
as I am.

277
00:15:09,742 --> 00:15:13,454
We know that there's a       
       higher boss out there,

278
00:15:13,495 --> 00:15:17,416
and these are just         
        pawns working to scam.

279
00:15:17,458 --> 00:15:19,627
[garbled snippets         
              of chatter]

280
00:15:19,668 --> 00:15:24,715
tense theme music

281
00:15:25,716 --> 00:15:30,763
ominous music

282
00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:55,788
[Mustafa] This is the last      
   photo I have from my brother,

283
00:15:55,829 --> 00:15:58,707
Adam, when he was in Morocco.

284
00:15:58,749 --> 00:16:00,292
When was the last time           
 that you heard from him?

285
00:16:00,334 --> 00:16:02,294
[Mustafa] 17 May, 2022.

286
00:16:02,336 --> 00:16:04,463
[David] So a little more than    
 a month before he went missing.

287
00:16:04,505 --> 00:16:05,923
Yes.

288
00:16:06,173 --> 00:16:09,760
[David VO] In 2020, Adam      
     Bakhit fled the war in Sudan

289
00:16:09,802 --> 00:16:13,097
and headed for Europe to      
       meet his brother Mustafa.

290
00:16:13,138 --> 00:16:16,141
But along the way,         
          Adam went missing.

291
00:16:16,183 --> 00:16:17,935
[David] This last           
 message that you sent to him,

292
00:16:17,977 --> 00:16:20,062
-what does that say?        
    -[Mustafa] "Welcome, hello."

293
00:16:20,104 --> 00:16:23,065
I tried to just get know that    
   his phone is working or not.

294
00:16:23,107 --> 00:16:24,316
[David] And it didn't deliver.

295
00:16:24,358 --> 00:16:25,776
Yes.

296
00:16:25,818 --> 00:16:26,944
-dramatic tense music       
     -[shouting and commotion]

297
00:16:26,986 --> 00:16:28,904
[David VO] On June         
          24th of last year,

298
00:16:28,946 --> 00:16:32,366
Adam and about 2,000        
      others, mostly from Sudan,

299
00:16:32,408 --> 00:16:35,995
tried to cross the border      
      from Morocco into Melilla,

300
00:16:36,036 --> 00:16:40,624
one of two cities in Morocco    
 that officially belong to Spain.

301
00:16:40,665 --> 00:16:43,168
Police pinned them         
        into an enclosed area,

302
00:16:43,210 --> 00:16:45,337
shot them with rubber       
         bullets and tear gas,

303
00:16:45,379 --> 00:16:47,213
and beat them.

304
00:16:48,507 --> 00:16:51,802
Migrants who set foot in Melilla 
 have the right to seek asylum in

305
00:16:51,844 --> 00:16:54,346
the EU without           
        having to leave Africa,

306
00:16:54,387 --> 00:16:57,348
so Europe goes to extreme     
       lengths to keep them out,

307
00:16:57,391 --> 00:17:00,019
and it enlists Morocco to help.

308
00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:02,688
The Moroccan government       
       says that 23 people died

309
00:17:02,730 --> 00:17:06,066
on June 24th, but the       
       actual number is unknown.

310
00:17:06,108 --> 00:17:08,569
Close to 80 people         
        went missing that day.

311
00:17:08,610 --> 00:17:12,114
They are not on official      
 lists of the dead or imprisoned.

312
00:17:12,156 --> 00:17:15,034
They simply disappeared.

313
00:17:15,534 --> 00:17:17,536
We went to Morocco to       
       investigate what happened

314
00:17:17,578 --> 00:17:18,328
to them.

315
00:17:18,370 --> 00:17:19,747
Did they just go missing?

316
00:17:19,788 --> 00:17:22,833
Or did the Moroccan government,   
     acting on behalf of Europe,

317
00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:25,085
make them go missing?

318
00:17:26,086 --> 00:17:27,046
[woman] You ready?

319
00:17:27,087 --> 00:17:28,380
-[David] Yeah.            
       -[woman] Let's do it.

320
00:17:28,422 --> 00:17:30,799
[David VO] Morocco is a      
 dangerous place for journalists.

321
00:17:30,841 --> 00:17:32,968
To report this story        
       without getting arrested,

322
00:17:33,010 --> 00:17:36,555
we had to pose as tourists     
       and shoot on our phones.

323
00:17:36,597 --> 00:17:38,557
Right now, I'm           
        standing in Morocco,

324
00:17:38,599 --> 00:17:42,227
but right on the other        
   side of that fence is Europe.

325
00:17:42,269 --> 00:17:44,897
That is Melilla; it's a city    
    that technically officially

326
00:17:44,938 --> 00:17:47,232
belongs to the           
        government of Spain.

327
00:17:47,274 --> 00:17:51,236
It's one of two very small     
      land borders that divide

328
00:17:51,278 --> 00:17:54,490
not just Morocco from        
       Spain, but Morocco--

329
00:18:09,379 --> 00:18:10,422
[David] Okay.

330
00:18:13,217 --> 00:18:14,259
Okay.

331
00:18:20,933 --> 00:18:23,685
[David VO] All this security    
 is designed to keep migrants --

332
00:18:23,727 --> 00:18:25,604
specifically Black migrants --

333
00:18:25,646 --> 00:18:27,940
from even getting          
         close to the border.

334
00:18:30,442 --> 00:18:33,028
[David VO] It's also part of an   
 effort to keep scrutiny off of

335
00:18:33,070 --> 00:18:35,072
what happened on June 24th.

336
00:18:40,077 --> 00:18:41,870
[David VO] Many of the migrants   
     who tried to cross the border

337
00:18:41,912 --> 00:18:44,206
that day are still         
          stuck in Morocco.

338
00:18:44,248 --> 00:18:47,292
We arranged to meet a        
     group of them in Casablanca.

339
00:18:47,334 --> 00:18:49,128
[David] The places where      
    migrants congregate are very

340
00:18:49,169 --> 00:18:51,088
heavily surveilled         
           by the police.

341
00:18:51,130 --> 00:18:52,464
They raid them and         
         they arrest them,

342
00:18:52,506 --> 00:18:54,550
they chase them away,        
    they take their possessions.

343
00:18:54,591 --> 00:18:56,468
We're going late at night      
   because we're hoping that the

344
00:18:56,510 --> 00:18:59,721
police presence is a        
       little bit less heavy.

345
00:18:59,763 --> 00:19:02,891
I think we should          
         circle the block.

346
00:19:03,308 --> 00:19:05,435
[David VO] Because of the     
     dangers they face from police,

347
00:19:05,477 --> 00:19:07,855
we agreed to hide         
           their identities.

348
00:19:07,896 --> 00:19:11,650
How many people here were      
    there last June in Melilla?

349
00:19:15,070 --> 00:19:17,114
[David] Did it            
        fracture his skull?

350
00:19:28,333 --> 00:19:31,461
Do any people here know       
      somebody who disappeared

351
00:19:31,503 --> 00:19:32,629
that day?

352
00:19:49,605 --> 00:19:51,940
[David VO] We went with one    
     survivor to a secure location

353
00:19:51,982 --> 00:19:53,859
away from police.

354
00:20:06,079 --> 00:20:07,956
So you made it into Melilla;

355
00:20:07,998 --> 00:20:10,042
you made it onto          
         Spanish territory.

356
00:20:46,453 --> 00:20:49,456
And when the bus left you      
     on the side of the road,

357
00:20:49,498 --> 00:20:52,125
what happened to the        
        person who had died?

358
00:21:04,471 --> 00:21:07,432
[David VO] After the massacre,    
 buses drove injured migrants to

359
00:21:07,474 --> 00:21:09,434
remote places           
        hundreds of miles away.

360
00:21:09,476 --> 00:21:13,313
We know of at least two people 
     who died during the journey.

361
00:21:13,939 --> 00:21:16,608
This practice of putting      
 migrants on buses is part of the

362
00:21:16,650 --> 00:21:19,278
larger strategy of deterrence.

363
00:21:19,319 --> 00:21:21,613
The difference is          
       that in this instance,

364
00:21:21,655 --> 00:21:24,700
many of those people were      
 severely -- or even mortally --

365
00:21:24,741 --> 00:21:26,285
wounded.

366
00:21:26,326 --> 00:21:29,288
So this policy, in this case,    
 becomes essentially a mechanism

367
00:21:29,329 --> 00:21:31,790
for forcibly            
        disappearing people.

368
00:21:31,832 --> 00:21:33,292
[ringing]

369
00:21:33,333 --> 00:21:36,461
So we managed to get a phone     
   number for a driver who works

370
00:21:36,503 --> 00:21:39,464
for one of the bus companies    
     that does these transfers

371
00:21:39,506 --> 00:21:41,341
of migrants.

372
00:21:42,634 --> 00:21:44,303
[David VO] Our translator      
     called him and asked what he

373
00:21:44,344 --> 00:21:45,762
knew about that day.

374
00:21:59,151 --> 00:22:00,652
[David VO] The Moroccan      
     government did not respond to

375
00:22:00,694 --> 00:22:02,446
our questions.

376
00:22:02,487 --> 00:22:05,073
The Spanish government said it    
 had no jurisdiction over events

377
00:22:05,115 --> 00:22:07,117
that took place in Morocco.

378
00:22:07,159 --> 00:22:09,745
Both governments conducted     
     investigations that concluded

379
00:22:09,786 --> 00:22:12,331
there was no            
      wrongdoing by authorities,

380
00:22:12,372 --> 00:22:15,500
but neither investigation      
      addressed the disappeared,

381
00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:18,170
even though the evidence      
     suggests these fit the legal

382
00:22:18,211 --> 00:22:20,839
definition of "enforced      
            disappearances"

383
00:22:20,881 --> 00:22:23,342
carried out by the state.

384
00:22:23,759 --> 00:22:26,511
Family members of the missing   
     have been left to find their

385
00:22:26,553 --> 00:22:28,096
loved ones on their own.

386
00:22:28,138 --> 00:22:31,350
For that, they've mostly relied   
       on the work of one man:

387
00:22:31,391 --> 00:22:34,394
a human rights volunteer      
           named Omar Naji.

388
00:22:48,784 --> 00:22:51,995
Both Spanish and Moroccan      
    authorities could just say,

389
00:22:52,037 --> 00:22:54,373
"There was violence and people 
      died but it was justified,

390
00:22:54,414 --> 00:22:56,375
and here are the   
                 people who died."

391
00:22:56,416 --> 00:22:58,043
Why disappear them?

392
00:23:18,772 --> 00:23:21,358
[David VO] That one         
        person is Adam Bakhit,

393
00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:23,151
Mustafa's brother.

394
00:23:23,193 --> 00:23:24,736
Of all the people          
          who died that day,

395
00:23:24,778 --> 00:23:27,656
he's the only one          
        who's been identified.

396
00:23:33,620 --> 00:23:35,414
[David VO] Nine months       
       after Adam went missing,

397
00:23:35,455 --> 00:23:38,208
Mustafa came to Morocco      
         to identify his body.

398
00:23:38,250 --> 00:23:40,419
He buried his brother        
        in the local cemetery,

399
00:23:40,460 --> 00:23:42,045
not far from the border.

400
00:23:42,087 --> 00:23:43,004
[Mustafa VO]            
         We've been searching

401
00:23:43,046 --> 00:23:44,548
and we've been waiting.

402
00:23:44,589 --> 00:23:45,924
We're thinking he's alive.

403
00:23:45,966 --> 00:23:49,428
After nine months, we        
      find out he's passed away.

404
00:23:49,469 --> 00:23:52,264
They kept him in the        
      freezer for nine months.

405
00:23:52,305 --> 00:23:55,434
[David VO] Adam was         
 found, but he is the exception.

406
00:23:55,475 --> 00:23:58,228
Mustafa only got a visa      
      to Morocco because he lives

407
00:23:58,270 --> 00:23:59,813
in the UK.

408
00:23:59,855 --> 00:24:01,940
Most people don't have that    
     option because Morocco denies

409
00:24:01,982 --> 00:24:04,401
visas to anyone           
          coming from Sudan.

410
00:24:04,443 --> 00:24:06,611
In addition to the         
         photo of his brother,

411
00:24:06,653 --> 00:24:09,239
Mustafa saw photos         
          of 24 other people.

412
00:24:09,281 --> 00:24:12,200
That means there are 24 bodies 
     still in the morgue that the

413
00:24:12,242 --> 00:24:15,036
government is making it      
     nearly impossible to identify.

414
00:24:15,078 --> 00:24:16,830
For now, they count        
          among the missing,

415
00:24:16,872 --> 00:24:20,584
and they're still just a      
     fraction of the total number.

416
00:24:20,625 --> 00:24:23,795
Some of the family telling me,    
 "Our sons is passed away in the

417
00:24:23,837 --> 00:24:24,588
same day.

418
00:24:24,629 --> 00:24:25,797
They is not there."

419
00:24:25,839 --> 00:24:27,299
So where has the body gone?

420
00:24:27,340 --> 00:24:28,133
This is the question here.

421
00:24:28,133 --> 00:24:31,470
Why do you think the Moroccan   
   government made it so difficult

422
00:24:31,511 --> 00:24:34,431
for you and other people   
         to find their loved ones?

423
00:24:34,473 --> 00:24:36,600
Who has killed them?

424
00:24:36,641 --> 00:24:37,809
Moroccan government.

425
00:24:37,851 --> 00:24:40,812
If you made crime, you            
 need to hide something.

426
00:24:40,854 --> 00:24:43,899
But the reasons the               
 Moroccan government,

427
00:24:43,940 --> 00:24:46,651
they stop them -- they're not    
 gonna let them cross the border

428
00:24:46,693 --> 00:24:49,488
-- because EU, they pay them.

429
00:24:49,529 --> 00:24:52,324
They pay the poor               
 country like Morocco.

430
00:24:52,365 --> 00:24:53,825
"Shoot them, kill                
 them, do everything,

431
00:24:53,867 --> 00:24:55,702
but don't let them come out."

432
00:24:55,744 --> 00:24:58,121
So do you think Europe --

433
00:24:58,163 --> 00:24:59,498
and the EU --

434
00:24:59,539 --> 00:25:01,583
is responsible for what   
         happened to your brother?

435
00:25:01,625 --> 00:25:03,001
That's correct.

436
00:25:03,043 --> 00:25:05,003
dark moody music

437
00:25:05,045 --> 00:25:06,880
[David VO] In a          
     carefully-designed outsourcing

438
00:25:06,922 --> 00:25:10,592
model, the EU has directed     
     at least 19 billion euros to

439
00:25:10,634 --> 00:25:13,678
countries outside its borders   
        for managing migration,

440
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,222
and that's just an estimate.

441
00:25:15,263 --> 00:25:17,599
The EU makes it nearly       
      impossible to know the full

442
00:25:17,641 --> 00:25:21,311
amount, or how exactly       
        the money gets spent.

443
00:25:21,853 --> 00:25:24,689
[David] The European Union      
   has managed to entirely avoid

444
00:25:24,731 --> 00:25:26,691
accountability for         
 anything that happened that day.

445
00:25:26,733 --> 00:25:29,861
That's in spite of the fact that 
 Europe provides the funding that

446
00:25:29,903 --> 00:25:34,032
countries like Morocco use to    
   prevent -- often violently --

447
00:25:34,074 --> 00:25:36,952
migrants from            
    reaching European territory.

448
00:25:36,993 --> 00:25:38,662
[David VO] Just 10         
       days after the massacre,

449
00:25:38,703 --> 00:25:41,706
the EU official in charge of    
      migration actually praised

450
00:25:41,748 --> 00:25:43,291
Morocco for its work.

451
00:25:43,333 --> 00:25:47,712
Morocco is a key strategic     
 partner of the European Union to

452
00:25:47,754 --> 00:25:50,715
manage migration and        
        to fight smuggling.

453
00:25:52,592 --> 00:25:55,303
We spent several months trying   
   to get interviews with various

454
00:25:55,345 --> 00:25:57,973
different people at the EU, and   
   after being either told no or

455
00:25:58,014 --> 00:26:01,560
ignored for a long time, we     
   finally got a spokesperson to

456
00:26:01,601 --> 00:26:05,397
agree to a five- to         
       ten-minute interview.

457
00:26:05,897 --> 00:26:09,651
Does the European Commission    
    admit any responsibility for

458
00:26:09,693 --> 00:26:13,697
what happened on the Melilla 
      border on the 24th of June?

459
00:26:13,738 --> 00:26:18,076
Violence and loss of lives       
 at the EU's external borders

460
00:26:18,118 --> 00:26:20,078
is unacceptable,

461
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,707
and member states have the     
   responsibility to protect EU's

462
00:26:23,748 --> 00:26:26,751
borders in line with              
 fundamental rights.

463
00:26:26,793 --> 00:26:30,130
Now, when it comes to this     
     specific tragic incident,

464
00:26:30,171 --> 00:26:33,300
this is for the national       
    authorities to investigate.

465
00:26:33,341 --> 00:26:36,553
Did an incident such as     
     this one cause some degree of

466
00:26:36,595 --> 00:26:38,430
self-reflection on the     
       part of the European Union,

467
00:26:38,471 --> 00:26:41,558
or any degree of   
                 questioning or...

468
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,352
investigating whether that 
         partnership is operating

469
00:26:44,394 --> 00:26:45,770
as it should?

470
00:26:45,812 --> 00:26:47,939
When we see loss of lives       
 at the EU's external borders,

471
00:26:47,981 --> 00:26:52,777
when we see increases in terms   
   of people desperately risking

472
00:26:52,819 --> 00:26:56,197
their lives, dying at        
      the hands of smugglers,

473
00:26:56,239 --> 00:26:57,741
of criminal networks--

474
00:26:57,782 --> 00:26:59,951
They did not die at the       
 hands of smugglers in this case,

475
00:26:59,993 --> 00:27:01,620
there is ample evidence to 
        suggest they died at the--

476
00:27:01,661 --> 00:27:03,747
died and were forcibly     
       disappeared at the hands of

477
00:27:03,788 --> 00:27:05,707
authorities...

478
00:27:05,749 --> 00:27:07,542
security forces of the 
            countries in question.

479
00:27:07,584 --> 00:27:10,420
I cannot tell you about the      
 specific incidence because I'm

480
00:27:10,462 --> 00:27:13,632
not law enforcement and this     
 is for the national authorities

481
00:27:13,673 --> 00:27:14,924
to investigate.

482
00:27:14,966 --> 00:27:16,551
dark ominous music

483
00:27:16,593 --> 00:27:19,638
[David VO] In the coming years,   
 the EU plans to invest even more

484
00:27:19,679 --> 00:27:21,806
into outsourcing          
         its border controls,

485
00:27:21,848 --> 00:27:25,602
even as the strategy does little 
 to deter people displaced by war

486
00:27:25,644 --> 00:27:26,770
and poverty.

487
00:27:26,811 --> 00:27:28,355
[blast]

488
00:27:28,396 --> 00:27:31,566
In Sudan, two decades of      
     conflict led this year to an

489
00:27:31,608 --> 00:27:35,236
outright civil war, which has   
 already displaced a million more

490
00:27:35,278 --> 00:27:36,655
people.

491
00:27:45,705 --> 00:27:47,457
Are you...

492
00:27:47,499 --> 00:27:49,167
trying to find a           
 different way to get to Europe?

493
00:27:49,209 --> 00:27:51,044
Are you gonna try again?

494
00:27:59,886 --> 00:28:04,849
sparse dark music