Over 100 Foreigners Rescued from Myanmars Scam Centers
Over 250 individuals from diverse nationalities have been freed by an ethnic armed group operating in Karen State, Myanmar, and transported to Thailand. This includes more than half of the workers who hailed from African or Asian nations.
The Thai army welcomed these released workers upon their arrival and began assessing them to determine whether they were victims of human trafficking. Last week, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in an effort to curb the proliferation of telecom fraud centers along the border between Thailand and Myanmar.
To combat this issue, Thai authorities have implemented measures such as restricting power and fuel access from their side of the border. Additionally, they have tightened banking regulations and visa requirements to prevent scam operators from using Thailand as a transit country for moving workers and money across borders.
For two years now, some opposition members in Thailand have been advocating for these types of actions against telecom fraud centers. Foreign workers are typically enticed by promises of high salaries or misled into believing they would work differently in Thailand than Myanmar.
Cyber-fraud operations target individuals with language skills relevant to their intended victimsprimarily English and Chinese speakers. These workers are coerced into conducting fraudulent activities such as love scams, crypto fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling. Some participants willingly engage in these tasks; however, others must remain enslaved until substantial ransoms are paid by their families for their release.
Testimonials from those who have escaped indicate instances of torture. The freed foreign workers were handed over to the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), one among several armed factions that control territory within Karen State.
These factions have been accused of enabling scam centers and tolerating widespread abuse of trafficking victims forced into labor under their jurisdiction. Since Myanmar’s independence in 1948, the government has struggled to gain full territorial control over much of Karen State.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI), similar to the US FBI, requested warrants for three leaders from another armed group known as the Karen National Army (KNA). These include Saw Chit Thu, a former ally of Myanmar’s military who in 2017 entered into an agreement with a Chinese company to construct Shwe Kokkoa city reportedly funded by scam activities.
The BBC visited Shwe Kokko at the invitation of Yataithe company behind its construction. According to Yatai, there are no more scams taking place within the city boundaries. The firm has erected large billboards throughout town asserting that forced labor is prohibited and promoting an exit from online businesses in several languages: Chinese, Burmese, and English.
However, locals have reported ongoing scam activities within Shwe Kokko to the BBC, as well as an interview with a worker employed there. Like DKBA factions, Saw Chit Thu broke away from the main Karen insurgent groupthe KNUin 1994 before aligning himself with Myanmars military.
In response to increasing international pressure from Thailand and China, both Saw Chit Thu and the DKBA have announced plans to expel scam operations from their territories. The commander of DKBA has reached out to a Thai parliamentarian on Tuesday regarding the handover of 260 workerscomprising 221 men and 39 womenfrom various nationalities including Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Nepal, Uganda, Laos Burundi Brazil Bangladesh Nigeria Tanzania Sri Lanka India Ghana and Cambodia.
