Freedom Collaborative, in partnership with the Regional Support Office of the Bali Process and with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, convened a regional workshop in Colombo, bringing together civil society organizations (CSOs) from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Building on the initiative’s earlier convening in Nairobi, the workshop focused on the co-design of prevention strategies to address trafficking for forced criminality into Southeast Asian cyber-scam centers. It also strengthened regional partnerships to improve coordination and collective responses across key source and transit contexts.
Complex recruitment dynamics shape prevention design
While South Asia and East Africa share similarities as source and transit regions into Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka and its neighboring countries present a particularly complex operational environment. Many South Asian nationals are able to travel to parts of Southeast Asia without a visa or by obtaining one on arrival—conditions that traffickers exploit by channeling individuals through seemingly legitimate tourism pathways.
In these cases, travelers may present genuine return tickets and confirmed accommodation bookings that appear credible at departure points but are later cancelled or abandoned. These arrangements are often financed and coordinated by criminal networks, reflecting both the profitability of cyber-scam operations and their capacity to invest in increasingly sophisticated facilitation methods designed to reduce scrutiny.
Stakeholders also highlighted an emerging trend: Sri Lanka itself is becoming an increasingly significant location for cyber-scam activity. Immigration and consular officials report a rise in foreign nationals, including individuals from Southeast Asia, entering the country on legitimate travel documents to work in scam operations, often under the guise of employment in IT or programming roles. This illustrates how fraudulent recruitment can be embedded within otherwise lawful migration pathways, complicating detection and response efforts.
Strengthening coordination to enable early intervention
These dynamics reinforce the importance of prevention measures at early identification checkpoints, where timely detection can disrupt travel before exploitation occurs. Discussions emphasized the need for strengthened coordination among law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, diplomatic missions, and civil society organizations to enable rapid information-sharing and more effective responses.
The work of the Sri Lankan National Anti-Trafficking Taskforce was highlighted as a strong example of national leadership. Its close collaboration with local and regional partners has supported enhanced awareness-raising and operational coordination on trafficking for forced criminality.
Linking frontline insights with institutional response
The workshop formed part of a broader program of activities in Colombo aimed at strengthening both prevention and detection capacities. This included a targeted briefing for ASEAN visa-issuing officers hosted at the British High Commission, providing an up-to-date overview of cyber-scam trafficking trends, evolving recruitment methods, and common travel pathways into Southeast Asia using both legitimate and fraudulent documentation.
In parallel, a dedicated capacity-building session for Sri Lankan immigration officers examined recent case studies, emerging trends, and practical indicators—including document irregularities and behavioral red flags—to strengthen frontline identification of trafficking for forced criminality.
Advancing upstream prevention through regional collaboration
The initiative reflects a deliberate strategic shift toward upstream prevention in countries of origin, focusing on closing current prevention gaps through early intervention, awareness-raising, and stronger cross-border collaboration before exploitation occurs.
Participants consistently emphasized the practical, outcome-oriented nature of the convening. Many highlighted that the sessions generated tangible ideas and next steps for collaboration, while also creating valuable opportunities to engage directly with regional peers and stakeholders. One participant noted plans to brief their organization and partner CSOs on the lessons learned and expressed willingness to facilitate introductions with authorities responsible for border security, airport operations, and immigration to support continued cooperation.
As trafficking networks continue to adapt and exploit legitimate migration systems, sustained investment in coordinated upstream prevention remains essential to reducing exploitation and strengthening response efforts across regions.
