Thousands of people in many countries have been rescued from the infamous fraud centre on the other side of the border with Myanmar, Thailand. Prime Minister Paetong Tarun Sinawatra said Wednesday that around 7,000 people saved from illegal operations are waiting to be moved to Thailand. For years, crime syndicates often invite people with English and Chinese skills to people, to Thailand with fake job offers, and then trafficked them to Myanmar centres, where they were there. They are trying to scam people all over the world.
Thai authorities launched a new crackdown at the Centre last month after Chinese actor Wang was accused of in Bangkok. He was later rescued from Myanmar. Sinawatra has pledged to close the centre after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the BBC reports. Among other moves, her government has blocked access to electricity and internet to several areas on the other side of the border.
Approximately 260 workers, mainly from 20 countries in Africa and Asia, were repatriated last week. More than half of them were from Ethiopia. Rescued workers said they were forced to work up to 20 hours a day in an attempt to scam people with messaging services like WhatsApp, and were beaten and electrocuted if they didn’t meet their target, Reuters reports. The AP has criticized it for protecting fraud operations in border regions where Myanmar’s government has little impact, which critics have criticized, but the country has criticized it. The repatriation reportedly was organized by a Myanmar group. (More Myanmar stories.)
