MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) — Thousands of sick, exhausted and terrified young men and women, from countries all over the world squat in rows, packed shoulder to shoulder, surgical masks covering their mouths and eyes.
Their nightmare was supposed to be over.
Last month, a dramatic and highly publicized operation by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities led to the release of more than 7,000 people from locked compounds in Myanmar where they were forced to trick Americans and others out of their life savings. But survivors have found themselves trapped once again, this time in overcrowded facilities with no medical care, limited food and no idea when they’ll be sent home.
i think that they probably had some sort of choice, but i imagine they also needed to work to live, right? very few places in the world let you have food and shelter for free, so i think there’s at least some of an argument that doing this stuff is forced in some way or another. plus, it might (have been sold as) paying better or being safer than the conditions they had previously
they’re hardly the only ones to work in unethical (or downright criminal, depending on how you view it) fields. and i’m not sure holding them in crowded, filthy conditions like this, where they’re spreading disease among each other and sharing something like one toilet to 80 people, makes amends for what they’ve done, or even makes the world a better place
i just think we can wish for justice while still acknowledging that people are deserving of some basic amenities for being people