Two Brazilians who were working as enslaved in Myanmar, Asia managed to escape last Saturday (8) of the captivity. Luckas Viana dos Santos, 31, and Phelipe de Moura Ferreira, 26, were seduced by employment promises in Thailand, but ended up kidnapped and taken to Myawaddy, city of Myanmar, a country that lives in civil war.
Itamaraty reported that the Bangkok embassy in Thailand is providing assistance to Brazilians already rescued and provides their repatriation back to Brazil.
THE Brazil agency He talked to the relatives of the two young human trafficking victims, who have reported the drama lived in recent months. Both sought a better life abroad, but ended up having to work more than 15 hours a day by applying scams on the internet. When they did not reach the goals, they were tortured and beaten.
Brasília (DF), 12/02/2025 – Cleide Viana with her son Luckas Viana dos Santos. Photo: Cleide Viana/Personal Archive
Luckas’s mother, 62 -year -old Cleide Viana, who works in a nursery in São Paulo (SP), said her son has been outside Brazil for over a year. He worked in the Philippines, in a game company, and then at a hostel in Thailand. Until he found a job proposal of $ 8,000 a month and decided to accept, in October last year.
“They took him there in Thailand, at the hostel, and drove. He thought it was in northern Thailand, but never arrived. That was where they took him to Myanmar. I started to ask a little in codes and he said he wasn’t well, ”he said.
According to Cleide, the criminals monitored the conversations to find out if they were being reported. Since December she could no longer talk to her son. “Not only Brazil, but the world has to be alert with what happens there. This is something I didn’t even know existed, ”added Luckas’s mother.
Escape plan
Another Brazilian who managed to escape, Phelipe de Moura Ferreira had worked in Laos and the Philippines, Asia, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, and Uruguay, until he found this alleged job in Thailand, where he was in November 2024.
Phelipe’s father, António Carlos Ferreira, 56, a municipal civil servant of São Paulo (SP), said his son sent him a fake profile while working on the internet. He then learned that his son planned the escape with about 80 people also enslaved.
“We were monitoring the escape. They were going to flee from Saturday to Sunday. They were going to run two kilometers until they arrived in the river, which borders Thailand, but they did not appear, ”he said, adding that he started to be distressed. “Did they take them?” He thought.
According to Phelipe’s father, they were found by one of the myianmar militias, having been beaten by armed guards. Antonio argues that negotiations between the government of Thailand and one of these rebellious militias, the Democratic Army Karen Budista (DKBA), allowed Brazilians to cross the border back to Thailand.
When he received the news of the escape, he was relieved. “It was that emotion. It was the most exciting thing of my life. I was already losing hope, ”he said.
Lack of support
The young people of young people complain about the performance of the Brazilian authorities who, according to them, did not give satisfactory responses to the case. “The Brazilian Embassy in Myanmar did nothing. The only message they sent was that they were in permanent contact with the country’s authorities. Contact is no use, I had to press. Nothing would come out if it left in the hands of Myanmar’s authorities, ”he said.
António and Cleide attribute the success of the escape to the help of the non-governmental organization The Exodus Road, which fights human trafficking around the world. According to Antonio, their orientation and their pressure on Asian governments weakened the position of criminals.
“They began to press the Thailand government, the China government, began to make a matter, had us record video asking for help. Then the government of Thailand, pressured, what did you do? It started to cut the energy from where the mafia was, ”he added.
Itamaraty
By note, the Foreign Ministry reported that, through the embassies in Yangon, Myanmar, and Bangkok, Thailand, he had been requesting the efforts of the competent authorities since October last year for the release of Brazilians.
“The theme was also treated by Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha, at the time as a substitute minister, during the IV Brazil-Myanmar Political Consultation Session, held in Brasilia, on January 28. In its management, Ambassador Maria Laura da Rocha reinforced the need for continuous efforts to locate and rescue them, ”said the folder.
Itamaraty added that it seeks to make Brazilians aware of employment abroad about the risks of trafficking and smuggling people, With online guides and reports on dangers of job offerings in Southeast Asia.
