NAY PYI TAW — Myanmar authorities detained 273 foreigners from scam compounds along the border with Thailand on Monday, as a senior Chinese official visited frontier towns on both sides in a widening crackdown on illegal online operations.
Hundreds of thousands of people trafficked by criminal gangs have been forced to work in scam compounds that have sprung up across Southeast Asia, including the border between Thailand and Myanmar, the United Nations (UN) says.
Despite operating for years, the scam centres have only recently faced renewed scrutiny after the rescue and return to China of actor Wang Xing, abducted in Thailand after being lured there with the promise of a job.
Officials from China, Myanmar and Thailand met in Myawaddy this week, including China's assistant public security minister, Liu Zhongyi, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said on Tuesday.
"The representatives held a coordination meeting in Myawaddy and discussed the preventive system for telecom fraud between the three countries," it said, referring to the Myanmar town abutting Thailand in the vicinity of which Wang was rescued.
Since the end of January, Myanmar authorities have found 1,303 foreigners who entered the country illegally and worked in scam compounds in the Myawaddy area, with 273 detained on Monday, the paper added.
Members of Bamar People's Liberation Army (BPLA), who came back from a frontline after deployment, take a break in territory belonging to the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), in Karen State, Myanmar, on March 9, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
Myanmar has been in the throes of a widening civil war since 2021, when its powerful military overthrew an elected government, sparking protests that have morphed into a rebellion against the junta.
Swathes of the Southeast Asian country are now controlled by armed groups, including parts of Myawaddy that are run by the Karen National Army, a militia led by regional warlord Col Saw Chit Thu.
"We will work until the scam centres and human trafficking are eradicated," he told reporters on Monday, that signalled the growing pressure on his group from regional countries.
Their tactics include the cutting of Thai electricity, fuel and internet supplies to some border areas.
A group of 260 scam centre survivors from Myawaddy entered Thailand last week, most of them victims of human trafficking, said Choocheap Pongchai, governor of Tak province.
Two of the group have handed to police for further investigation, he added.
A general view of Shwe Kokko city, a casino, entertainment, and tourism complex, from Thailand's side of the border. (Photo: Reuters)
