内容摘要：After the raid last month, Achieng learned her mother was among those rescued but says she does not want anything to do with her family.

After the raid last month, Achieng learned her mother was among those rescued but says she does not want anything to do with her family.

She described an atmosphere similar to a fast-paced sales centre, with Chinese bosses shouting encouragement when a victim had been ‘butchered’ and their money stolen, telling how she witnessed people scammed for as much as $200,000.“They would shout a lot, in Chinese – ‘What are we here for? Money!’”

On top of adrenaline, the scam operation also ran on fear, Jojo said.Workers were beaten if they did not meet targets for swindling money. Mostly locked inside the building where she worked and lived; Jojo said she was only able to leave the scam operation once in the four months she was in the GTSEZ, and that was to attend a local hospital after falling ill.Fear of the Chinese bosses who ran the operation not only permeated their workstations but in the dormitory where they slept.

“They told us ‘Whatever happens in the room, we are listening’,” she said, also telling how her co-workers were beaten when they failed to meet targets.“They stopped them from working. They stopped them from coming to get food. They were not getting results. They were not bringing in the money they wanted. So they saw them as useless,” she said.

“They were torturing them every day.”

Khobby and Jojo said they were moved to act in case it was their turn next.The Hajj is performed between the 8th and 12th (or 13th) of Dhul-Hijjah, the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar. The timing falls roughly 70 days after the end of Ramadan, though this can vary slightly depending on the lunar cycle.

In 2025, the Hajj will take place from June 4 to June 9, but many start arriving in the days and weeks ahead to prepare for the journey.Because the Islamic calendar follows a lunar cycle, with months lasting 29 or 30 days, the Hajj shifts 10 to 12 days earlier each year in the Gregorian calendar. Notably, this year marks the last time for the next 16 years that the Hajj will fall during Mecca’s peak summer heat.

3. Why do Muslims perform the Hajj?Muslims believe that the Hajj is a direct commandment from Allah (God), as outlined in the Muslim holy book, the