MAE SOT – A total of 84 Indonesians who were rescued from scam centers in Myanmar were scheduled to be repatriated back to Indonesia on Friday, amidst the ongoing efforts to return thousands of such victims following a crackdown that is straining regional resources.
These individuals were part of over 7,000 people who were detained in Myawaddy, a town on the Myanmar border, as a result of a joint operation conducted by Thailand, Myanmar, and China to dismantle these scam operations. Two buses transporting the Indonesian nationals arrived in Mae Sot, a city located on the Thai border, on Thursday. Upon arrival, the passengers underwent health screenings, and their identities were verified.
It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of individuals have been deceived into working in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos to participate in various fraudulent activities such as fake romantic relationships, fraudulent investment schemes, and illegal gambling operations on a global scale. Many of these workers were initially recruited under deceptive terms, only to later realize that they were trapped in exploitative conditions resembling virtual servitude.
The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry said the 84 Indonesians, which included 69 men and 15 women, were healthy and will fly to Jakarta on three commercial flights Friday. The ministry had said last week as many as 270 Indonesians were stranded in Myanmar after leaving the scam centers, but it was not clear why only 84 were being repatriated.
Judha Nugraha, director of Indonesian citizen protection at the ministry, has said that approximately 6,800 Indonesians have fallen victim to illegal job scams, ending up in online gambling operations or bogus investment schemes in Myanmar and several other countries over the past few years.
The crackdown on the scam centers in Myanmar followed a meeting in Beijing in early February between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Chinese leader Xi Jinping where she said Thailand would crack down on the scam networks.
Thailand has cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar hosting scam centers along the border.
More than 600 Chinese nationals were repatriated last week. Earlier, some 260 people from 20 countries, including Ethiopia, Brazil and the Philippines, crossed from Myanmar into Thai custody. Many have returned home but more than 100 remain in Thailand awaiting repatriation, Thai officials said.
The size and scale of the repatriation effort is straining Thai government resources and leading to delays for those waiting to go home. Officials from Thailand, Myanmar and China were expected to meet Friday to address the logistics of the crackdown as concerns grow about a possible humanitarian crisis along the border.
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Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
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