Nine residents of Bahia, a state in northeastern Brazil, say they were victims of human trafficking in an international scheme that took them first to Cambodia, in Southeast Asia, and later to Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. According to a G1 report published on Friday (28), they belong to a group of about 20 Brazilians, including people from Rio de Janeiro, Alagoas, Sergipe and Minas Gerais, lured by job offers paid in dollars. Upon arriving in Cambodia, they say their passports were confiscated, they suffered beatings and were forced to run internet scams targeting Brazilians.

According to lawyer Queila Veloso, who represents one of the victims, the woman from Bahia received the job offer in October 2025 through a friend who, without her knowledge, had also fallen into the scheme. The offer promised about one year of work in the Asian country, a salary of US$ 1,500 a month and airfare paid by the hiring company. Unemployed in Brazil, she accepted.

The reality described by the victims was different. According to the lawyer, the Brazilians were held in a fortified compound, barred from leaving their lodgings, and anyone who refused to work in the fraudulent telemarketing operation was beaten, threatened and burdened with debts reaching into the millions.

"Many tried to escape, they were beaten, we were constantly humiliated every single day", one of the victims, who asked not to be identified, told G1.

The accounts indicate that, after police raids on the compounds in Cambodia, the group was transferred to Madagascar. One victim said the fines imposed by the exploiters left her a full month without pay and that she fell ill on African soil but was forced to keep working: "I caught a disease here in Madagascar, I went to work sick, vomiting, with diarrhea, I almost fainted".

Timeline of the case

• October 2025: an unemployed woman from Bahia receives the job offer for Cambodia through a friend.
• Following months: the group of about 20 Brazilians has its passports confiscated and is forced to run internet scams, according to their accounts.
• After police raids in Cambodia: the Brazilians are transferred to Madagascar.
• August 19, 2026: another police operation, this time in Madagascar, detains the group, which had no documents.
• About three days later: the Brazilians are released and taken in by the NGO Exodus Road Brasil.

The director of Exodus Road Brasil, Cintia Meirelles, told G1 that the group is sheltered in a church, with the location kept secret for safety, and is being supported by local organizations and missionaries. She said the Brazilians have so far received no support from the federal government.

In a statement, Itamaraty, Brazil's foreign ministry, said it received requests to investigate the case with Madagascar's authorities. The Bahia State Secretariat for Justice and Human Rights (SJDH) said it is monitoring the situation and that diplomatic measures for the group's return are being taken. The case was also reported by other Bahia outlets, including the newspaper Correio and the portal Aratu On.

No date has been set for repatriation. The next step, according to the SJDH, depends on diplomatic procedures between Brazil and Madagascar to issue travel documents and bring the group home. The victims' identities are being protected, and authorities are treating the Brazilians as possible victims of human trafficking, a crime under Article 149-A of the Brazilian Penal Code.