(CLO) On the afternoon of February 12, Thailand received 260 human trafficking victims from Myanmar in a large-scale crackdown on fraud along the two countries' border.
The group of victims were forced to work in scam call centers, an illegal operation that generates billions of dollars a year across Southeast Asia. According to the Thai military, after screening, they discovered that the 260 people came from 20 different countries, including 138 Ethiopians.
Foreigners rescued from scam centres in Myawaddy board army trucks. Photo: Assawin Pinitwong
The victims were brought from Myanmar's border towns of KK Park and Shwe Kokko to Thailand via the Phop Phra border checkpoint in Tak province at around 3 p.m. By 4 p.m., the Goltooboh force of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) handed over 260 victims to the Thai military and security forces.
They were taken to the Border Patrol Police (BPP) Company 346 checkpoint to undergo verification and assistance under the national referral mechanism (NRM).
The repatriation comes after Chinese actor Wang Xing was kidnapped in Thailand last month and lured with the promise of acting work. After finding him in Myanmar, Thai police rescued him and stepped up a crackdown on human trafficking.
The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate with embassies of other countries to complete paperwork and arrange repatriation as soon as possible. The Thai government has confirmed that it has no policy to establish shelters or refugee centers for the victims, due to concerns about security risks and the possibility that they could be drawn back into the human trafficking cycle.
Thailand recently cut off electricity, oil and internet in some areas of Myanmar where scam centers operate, in a bid to pressure the Myanmar government to take action.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said the country would not lift the ban unless Myanmar could prove it had dismantled fraud gangs in five border towns.
Ngoc Anh (according to Nation Thailand, Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/thai-lan-tiep-nhan-260-nan-nhan-trong-duong-day-buon-nguoi-lua-dao-truc-tuyen-o-myanmar-post334414.html
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