250 people from 20 nations rescued from Myanmar’s telecom scam centres
The Thailand Army which received the people from an ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Karen State is ascertaining whether they were forced into the job
As many as 250 people belonging to over 20 countries and working as scammers in telecom fraud centres in Myanmar’s Karen State, have been released by an ethnic armed group controlling the region and handed over to the Thailand government.
The Thai Army which received the rescued people is assessing if they were trafficked and forced into the job, a BBC report said.
Thai govt move against cybercrimes
With most of the cyberscams being controlled by Chinese investors in collusion with local Myanmar warlords, China has publicly sought to eradicate the large-scale criminal industry and tens of thousands of people involved have been repatriated to China in recent weeks.
Also read: Indian embassy in Laos rescues 47 Indians from cyber scam centres
The latest release of workers also comes a week after Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping assured to shut down scam centres along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Keeping good on her promise, her government has stopped access to power and fuel from the Thai side of the border while putting in place strict visa and banking rules to disable scammers to use Thailand as a transit country to traffic unsuspecting workers into Myanmar and other countries.
How scammers lure foreign workers
Scam operators often lure foreign workers, mostly youths looking for jobs, on the pretext of providing them employment in Thailand at a good salary. Once trafficked across borders, these workers are forced into criminal activities like ‘pig butchering’, crypto fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling.
The scam centres often look for workers with good language skills in English and Chinese.
Also read: What is pig butchering scam? How to avoid getting ensnared?
The report says while some of these workers willingly accept the job, several others who protest are forced to stay and are released only if their families pay ransoms.
Many of these workers who were released from Myanmar have alleged of being tortured by their captors, the BBC report said.
Role of ethnic armies in scams
They were handed over to the Thai Army by the ethnic rebel group Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), one of the many armed groups which control territory in the state.
These groups have been accused of encouraging scamming operations in the region and tolerating the abuse of captive foreign workers by scam operators.