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Japan Times
01-03-2025
- Japan Times
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centers face struggle to get home
BANGKOK – Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centers run by criminal gangs have little food, scant health care and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there said.
MTV Lebanon
28-02-2025
- MTV Lebanon
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centres face struggle to get home
Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centres run by criminal gangs have little food, scant healthcare and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there told Reuters. Both asked not to named because of safety concerns but shared their location by WhatsApp. It matched the location of a DKBA camp that was provided by an aid worker on the Thai border who is tracking the issue. In recent weeks, authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have attempted to dismantle scam centres and illegal online operations on the border, part of a network of compounds across Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands have been trafficked by gangs, according to the United Nations. "We barely eat twice a day. Sometimes twice, sometimes just once," a 29-year-old man from a central African country, who was moved to the camp on February 15, said by phone. "The ladies don't have access to any sanitary pads. We have to use at most five restrooms for about 500 people." Another detainee, a 39-year-old man from an east African country, accused the DKBA of not caring about humans and said: "We live like animals." Asked for comment on the detainees' remarks, DKBA official Saw San Aug told Reuters the armed group was attempting to help those plucked out of scam compounds and had the best of intentions, supplying them with two meals a day. "It might be true that they don't have enough toilets," he said. "There are lots of people and we are doing our best." Although operational for years, illegal scam compounds are now the target of the multi-national crackdown launched after the abduction of a Chinese actor from Thailand in January. He was later rescued from a compound in the Myawaddy area of southeastern Myanmar. Scores of people, many of them human trafficking victims, have since been released from the Myawaddy area and flown home through Thailand. About 7,000 pulled out of scam compounds are still trapped in limbo, including the group housed in the DKBA camp, opposite the Thai settlement of Chong Khaep.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centres face struggle to get home
By Devjyot Ghoshal and Panu Wongcha-um BANGKOK (Reuters) - Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centres run by criminal gangs have little food, scant healthcare and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there told Reuters. Both asked not to named because of safety concerns but shared their location by WhatsApp. It matched the location of a DKBA camp that was provided by an aid worker on the Thai border who is tracking the issue. In recent weeks, authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have attempted to dismantle scam centres and illegal online operations on the border, part of a network of compounds across Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands have been trafficked by gangs, according to the United Nations. "We barely eat twice a day. Sometimes twice, sometimes just once," a 29-year-old man from a central African country, who was moved to the camp on February 15, said by phone. "The ladies don't have access to any sanitary pads. We have to use at most five restrooms for about 500 people." Another detainee, a 39-year-old man from an east African country, accused the DKBA of not caring about humans and said: "We live like animals." Asked for comment on the detainees' remarks, DKBA official Saw San Aug told Reuters the armed group was attempting to help those plucked out of scam compounds and had the best of intentions, supplying them with two meals a day. "It might be true that they don't have enough toilets," he said. "There are lots of people and we are doing our best." Although operational for years, illegal scam compounds are now the target of the multi-national crackdown launched after the abduction of a Chinese actor from Thailand in January. He was later rescued from a compound in the Myawaddy area of southeastern Myanmar. Scores of people, many of them human trafficking victims, have since been released from the Myawaddy area and flown home through Thailand. About 7,000 pulled out of scam compounds are still trapped in limbo, including the group housed in the DKBA camp, opposite the Thai settlement of Chong Khaep. NO MONEY FOR FLIGHT TICKET Videos of the camp shared by a detainee show rows of filthy toilets, some clogged with faeces, and stacks of plastic food containers overflowing out of a black garbage bag. In one photo, a group of men are seen lying or sleeping on a sheet on a bare floor. A meal served on Friday consisted of a small portion of rice and vegetables served in a white foam box, another photo showed. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the images. Since an initial group of released scam centre workers entered Thailand in February, Thai authorities have throttled cross-border movement, allowing only those people to come in whose countries have made arrangements for repatriation. Thailand's foreign ministry said on Friday it would enable foreign embassies to verify their citizens in Myanmar. The 29-year-old detainee who spoke to Reuters said he had contacted his central African country's embassy in China this week seeking help, but was told he and his countrymen would have to arrange for their tickets to leave Thailand themselves. The embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The detainee from the east African country said his nation's embassy in Tokyo had given him similar directions, but he and others did not have the funds to pay for their tickets. "I spent almost three months in the jungle," he said, referring to his time at a scam compound. "I don't have any financial support from outside." He said panic was beginning to grip some detainees in the DKBA camp over the prospect of being sent back to scam centres where witnesses have said coercion and torture are rife. "We don't know what is happening, when we're going to leave this place," said the 29-year-old man.
Reuters
28-02-2025
- Reuters
Some foreigners pulled out of Myanmar scam centres face struggle to get home
Summary Multi-national crackdown launched on scam compounds Hundreds of foreign nationals moved to militia camp Conditions in the camp are difficult, witnesses say Some face problems trying to go home, they say BANGKOK, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Hundreds of foreign nationals pulled out of scam compounds in Myanmar during a crackdown on centres run by criminal gangs have little food, scant healthcare and filthy toilets in the remote militia camp they have been taken to, two detainees said. Some also have no easy way to get back to their distant home countries after being moved to the camp, along the border with Thailand, which is run by Myanmar's Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) militia. About 470 people are housed in the camp, where already harsh living conditions are deteriorating, two African nationals who are detained there told Reuters. Both asked not to named because of safety concerns but shared their location by WhatsApp. It matched the location of a DKBA camp that was provided by an aid worker on the Thai border who is tracking the issue. In recent weeks, authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have attempted to dismantle scam centres and illegal online operations on the border, part of a network of compounds across Southeast Asia, where hundreds of thousands have been trafficked by gangs, according to the United Nations. "We barely eat twice a day. Sometimes twice, sometimes just once," a 29-year-old man from a central African country, who was moved to the camp on February 15, said by phone. "The ladies don't have access to any sanitary pads. We have to use at most five restrooms for about 500 people." Another detainee, a 39-year-old man from an east African country, accused the DKBA of not caring about humans and said: "We live like animals." Asked for comment on the detainees' remarks, DKBA official Saw San Aug told Reuters the armed group was attempting to help those plucked out of scam compounds and had the best of intentions, supplying them with two meals a day. "It might be true that they don't have enough toilets," he said. "There are lots of people and we are doing our best." Although operational for years, illegal scam compounds are now the target of the multi-national crackdown launched after the abduction of a Chinese actor from Thailand in January. He was later rescued from a compound in the Myawaddy area of southeastern Myanmar. Scores of people, many of them human trafficking victims, have since been released from the Myawaddy area and flown home through Thailand. About 7,000 pulled out of scam compounds are still trapped in limbo, including the group housed in the DKBA camp, opposite the Thai settlement of Chong Khaep. NO MONEY FOR FLIGHT TICKET Videos of the camp shared by a detainee show rows of filthy toilets, some clogged with faeces, and stacks of plastic food containers overflowing out of a black garbage bag. In one photo, a group of men are seen lying or sleeping on a sheet on a bare floor. A meal served on Friday consisted of a small portion of rice and vegetables served in a white foam box, another photo showed. Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the images. Since an initial group of released scam centre workers entered Thailand in February, Thai authorities have throttled cross-border movement, allowing only those people to come in whose countries have made arrangements for repatriation. Thailand's foreign ministry said on Friday it would enable foreign embassies to verify their citizens in Myanmar. The 29-year-old detainee who spoke to Reuters said he had contacted his central African country's embassy in China this week seeking help, but was told he and his countrymen would have to arrange for their tickets to leave Thailand themselves. The embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The detainee from the east African country said his nation's embassy in Tokyo had given him similar directions, but he and others did not have the funds to pay for their tickets. "I spent almost three months in the jungle," he said, referring to his time at a scam compound. "I don't have any financial support from outside." He said panic was beginning to grip some detainees in the DKBA camp over the prospect of being sent back to scam centres where witnesses have said coercion and torture are rife. "We don't know what is happening, when we're going to leave this place," said the 29-year-old man.
NBC News
14-02-2025
- NBC News
260 foreigners rescued from virtual slavery in Myanmar's online scam centers are being repatriated
BANGKOK — Some 260 people believed to have been trafficked and trapped into working in online scam centers are to be repatriated after they were rescued from Myanmar, Thailand's army announced Thursday. In a fresh crackdown on scam centers operating from Southeast Asia, the Thai army said it was coordinating an effort to repatriate some 260 people believed to have been victims of human trafficking after they were rescued and sent from Myanmar to Thailand. Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, which share borders with Thailand, have become known as havens for criminal syndicates that are estimated to have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia and elsewhere into helping run online scams including false romantic ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes. Such scams have extracted tens of billions of dollars from victims around the world, according to U.N. experts, while the people recruited to carry them out have often been tricked into taking the jobs under false pretenses and trapped in virtual slavery. An earlier crackdown on scam centers in Myanmar was initiated in late 2023 after China expressed embarrassment and concern over illegal casinos and scam operations in Myanmar's northern Shan state along its border. Ethnic guerrilla groups with close ties to Beijing shut down many operations, and an estimated 45,000 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement were repatriated. The army said that those rescued in the most recent operation came from 20 nationalities — with significant numbers from Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan and China. There were also nationals of Indonesia, Nepal, Taiwan, Uganda, Laos, Brazil, Burundi, Tanzania, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ghana and India. They were sent across the border from Myanmar's Myawaddy district to Thailand's Tak province on Wednesday. Reports in Thai media said a Myanmar ethnic militia that controls the area where they were held, the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army, was responsible for freeing the workers and taking them to the border. Myanmar's military government exercises little control over frontier areas where ethnic minorities predominate. Several ethnic militias are believed to be involved in criminal activities, including drug trafficking and protecting call-center scam operations. The Thai army statement said the rescued people will undergo questioning, and if determined to be victims of human trafficking, will enter a process of protection while waiting to be sent back to their countries. Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, who is also defense minister, said Wednesday that there might be many more scam workers waiting to be repatriated from Myanmar through Thailand, but that Thailand would only receive those that are ready to be taken back right away by their country of origin. 'I've made it clear that Thailand is not going to set up another shelter,' he told reporters during a visit in Sa Kaeo province, which borders Cambodia. Thailand hosts nine refugee camps along the border holding more than 100,000 people, most from Myanmar's ethnic Karen minority. Phumtham added that Thailand would also need to question them before sending them back, both to make sure that they are victims of human trafficking, and also to get information that would help the police investigate the trafficking and scam problems. On a visit to China in early February, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra vowed along with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to crack down on the scam networks that plague Southeast Asia. Many dramatic stories of Chinese people being lured to work in Bangkok only to be trafficked into a scam compound in Myanmar have surfaced. Chinese actor Wang Xing was a high-profile case but was quickly rescued after his tale spread on social media. Underlining Beijing's concern, Liu Zhongyi, China's vice minister of public security and commissioner of its Criminal Investigation Bureau, made an official visit to Thailand last month and inspected the border area opposite where many of the Myanmar scam centers are located. Just ahead of Paetongtarn's visit to China, the Thai government issued an order to cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar along the border with northern Thailand, citing national security and severe damage that the country has suffered from scam operations. Her government is considering expanding this measure to Thailand's northeastern areas bordering Cambodia, said Thai Defense Ministry spokesperson Thanathip Sawangsang, who explained that officials had already removed internet cables that were installed in the areas illegally.
