Feb. 13 (UPI) — Hundreds of human trafficking victims who were deceived and forced to work in Myanmar scam centers have been turned over to the Thai military, authorities said Thursday.
The Thai military announced in a statement that it had received 260 people at the Thai-Myanmar border on Wednesday from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a Myanmar ethnic group controlling the Myawaddy, Karen State, region where the victims were being held.
The victims were 221 men and 39 women. The military said that following screening and verification, it found they were from 20 nations.
Relevant embassies have been contacted, it said.
Myanmar has been devastated by violence and civil war since its military seized the government in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Amid the instability, Myanmar has become a hub for scam centers run by organization criminal gangs. The centers, which generate billions of dollars a year, are manned by thousands of mostly foreigners who were illegally trafficked.
According to the United Nations, at least 120,000 victims across Myanmar may be forced against their will to work these “lucrative online scams” that range from illegal gambling to crypto fraud.
The Council on Foreign Relations think tank tank states most of the gangs originated from China and they have proliferated along Myanmar’s borders with China, India, Laos and Thailand where ethnic minority groups dominate.
The issue, however, became global after Chinese actor Wang Xing became a victim of these gangs.
Believing he was in communication for a movie casting call, he flew to Bangkok airport in early January where he was picked up and driven to a scam center in Myawaddy. He was rescued by Thai police days later, CNN reported.
Wang’s kidnapping prompted China to call on Thailand to crack down on the call centers, and Thailand has responded by cutting electricity and Internet connectivity in the country.
Last week, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, where the Thai leader promised to strengthen law enforcement with neighboring countries and crack down on cross-border crime, such as online gambling and telecom fraud.
Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said earlier Wednesday that they are expecting to receive more victims of these call center gangs, the Bangkok Post reported.
He said that Thailand would relax the sanctions once Myanmar proved it had eliminated the call centers.
“We are on the right path,” he said.