Myanmar frees 1,000 scam center workers as crackdown widens

Myanmar’s military government said it is ready to hand over about 1,000 foreign nationals rescued from cyber scam centers near the Thai border as authorities vowed to intensify a crackdown against transnational criminal groups.

About 1,030 foreign nationals were rescued from online scam centers in the past three weeks, and authorities have already sent 61 of them to their home countries, the ruling State Administration Council said in a statement Monday. The rest would be sent back after verification of their personal details, it said.

The scam center victims are mostly from Asian countries including China and India while some others came from East Africa, according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Information.

The junta launched a military operation to combat online scams under pressure from its neighbors Thailand and China after a high-profile trafficking of a Chinese actor put the spotlight on criminal activities across the Thai borders. The military has raided camps in the northeast and eastern Shan State besides targeting Shwe Kokko area controlled by a junta-allied armed group called Kayin State Border Guard Force.

The militia group said it aims to deport 10,000 foreign nationals working in scam centers in areas controlled by it in phases. It will coordinate the repatriation with China, Myanmar and Thailand, spokesman Major Naing Maung Zaw said by phone.

Thailand cut off electricity, internet and fuel supplies to some areas in Myanmar suspected to house cyber scams earlier this month, forcing transnational crime groups to shutter some of their operations. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged his support for the crackdown in a recent meeting with Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Liu Zhongyi, China’s Assistant Minister for Public Security, met with Myanmar officials at the ethnic army’s headquarters near Thailand on Monday to oversee the handover of about 300 foreign workers, mostly Chinese.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a briefing Monday Beijing is working with Thailand, Myanmar and other countries to jointly prevent law-breakers from crossing borders to commit crimes and end the scourge of online gambling and telecom fraud. “China will work with competent authorities and guide relevant departments to handle this issue,” he said.

Across Southeast Asia, the billion-dollar cyber scam operations have been expanding, particularly in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Often run by Chinese fugitives who fled their home nation in 2020 following a domestic crackdown, they have taken cover in areas of Myanmar where the military regime is losing control over territories to rebels.

An estimated 220,000 people were estimated to have been tricked into working for romance-investment schemes, crypto fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling in Myanmar and Cambodia alone, according to a report from the United Nations Human Rights Office report in 2023. Most people trafficked into the online scam operations are men, although women and adolescents are also among the victims, it said.