More than 1,000 people rescued from cyber scam centres near Thailand will be handed over by Myanmar, its military government has announced.
The ruling State Administration Council said on Monday that around 1,030 foreign nationals were rescued from scam centres in the country over the past three weeks.
Authorities said they have already returned 61 people to their home countries and would send the rest back after their personal details could be verified.
Bloomberg news agency reported that the government’s information ministry said the scam centre victims are mostly from Asian countries including India and China. Some other people rescued were from East Africa.
The return comes as part of a crackdown on scam centres where hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked and forced into illegal work.
According to the UN, the criminal gangs generate billions each year and operate across southeast Asia – particularly along the Thai-Myanmar border.
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Thailand redoubled efforts to curb the scam gangs after Chinese actor Wang Xing was abducted in the country in January, having been lured there on the promise of an acting job.
He was freed by Thai police who found him in Myanmar days after his disappearance.
Earlier this month, Bangkok cut electricity, internet and fuel supplies to five border areas in Myanmar in a bid to cripple the criminal centres.
Around 260 people were returned to Thailand after being freed from trafficking last week. Pic: Reuters
Last week, Thailand’s army said it had received 260 human trafficking victims from Myanmar, with more than half coming from Ethiopia.
In a statement, the Thai army said: “After screening the group and verifying their nationalities, it was found that there were 20 nationalities.”
