An exclusive look at the booming business of human trafficking in Malaysia.

Welcome to VOA Asia Weekly. I'm Jessica Stone in Washington. That story is coming up, but first, making headlines:

About 87,000 people are evacuating after Mount Kanlaon erupted Tuesday in the central Philippines. The explosion shot ash more than 200 kilometers away. There are no reports of casualties, but officials are monitoring for additional explosions.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin – made his last trip to the region this week before the Trump administration takes office. In Tokyo, Austin said the US commitment to protect Japan and South Korea from Chinese aggression is solid. Austin cancelled a scheduled stop in Seoul, after Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law without warning Washington.

Taiwan has closed its emergency response center opened earlier this week to respond to Beijing’s ongoing military drills near the island. Taiwan says China’s drills increased significantly after Taiwan president Lai Ching-te visited Hawaii and Guam last week. Taiwanese media reported that 90 Chinese ships are operating off Taiwan’s coast.

“China’s behavior is a disruption of the security and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, creating uncertainties among the international community.”

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of China and says it’s defending the country’s sovereignty and will not tolerate Taiwan’s separatist activities.

Tonga's parliament is calling for nominations to replace Prime Minister, Siaosi Sovaleni, who resigned Monday shortly before a scheduled no confidence vote. Sovaleni said voluntarily decision to step down was for the good of the country. Parliamentarians will gather December 24th to choose the country's new leader.

Experts say Southeast Asia’s online scamming and human trafficking industry is growing. Dave Grunebaum reports. A warning -- this video contains graphic content that may be disturbing.

Human rights activists join family members of Malaysian victims trapped in scam compounds who share their stories at a news conference in late November.

Their identities are being concealed for security reasons.

This mother says her 24-year-old son went to Thailand for a vacation and ended up trapped in neighboring Myanmar.

“They hit my son until his buttocks were full of bruises. They handcuffed him to the ceiling. That’s how he slept for two days.”

The mother says the family paid a $16,000 ransom to the crime group holding her son, but the captors never set him free.

“It’s very heartbreaking. I have been crying for many days.”

The non-governmental organization Pertubuhan Kebajikan Al-Ehsan Islamiah Malaysia says this video shows victims trapped and tortured at scam compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. It has not been independently verified.

Jake Sims, a visiting expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, says the criminal networks operate these scam compounds in countries with significant corruption and gaps in the rule of law.

“Over the last several years, hundreds of thousands of people have been brought to the region, many of them via various forms of coercion, deception, human trafficking, to be involved in a very lucrative global industry of organized cybercrime that is defrauding people from all over the world to the tune of tens of billions of dollars per year.”

Experts say most of the victims in these scam centers come from across Asia.

They are often lured by false promises of a legitimate job opportunity only to be tricked, trafficked and trapped.

They are forced to work 15 hours a day, seven days a week in alleged scam compounds like these.

They are ordered to befriend people on social media as well as dating apps and coax them to invest their money into crypto currency scams.

And experts say these types of cybercrimes and the human trafficking connected to it show no signs of slowing down.

Visit voanews.com for the most up-to-date stories.

I’m Jessica Stone

Finally, the holiday spirit is in the air.

Across Asia, countries are embracing the Christmas season.

In Manila, people are lighting up the streets with Christmas displays.

In Taipei, locals are dressing their dogs in strollers.

And in Shanghai, crowds are enjoying delicious food stalls and soaking up the holiday cheer.

Thanks for watching VOA Asia Weekly.