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Russian woman caught up in Myanmar call center scam freed — human rights activist

Ivan Melnikov added that the Russian citizen is currently being held in a temporary detention center for foreigners

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. A young Russian who was abducted as part of a widespread call center scam in Myanmar has been released, vice-president of the Unified Coordination Center for the Support of Compatriots Abroad (UCCSCA) Ivan Melnikov told TASS.

"Another Russian citizen, who was illegally taken out of Thailand and abducted in early April in Myanmar, was released as a result of coordinated actions by representatives of the Department for International Cooperation of Russia’s Interior Ministry, the Russian Foreign Ministry, the UCCSCA and a Myanmar army unit," he said.

He added that the Russian citizen is currently being held in a temporary detention center for foreigners.

"Our citizen was abducted after she was offered a high-paying job as a translator for a large company in Thailand. She was held in captivity for several weeks, her documents were taken away from her, they threatened and tried to force her to work at a scam center. There are still tens of thousands of people in such scam centers, including our compatriots," Melnikov said.

He said it is necessary to create an institution of the commissioner for the rights of compatriots abroad and working groups to combat human trafficking in our country and within the framework of the BRICS countries, given the enormous scale of this crime. He intends to submit the proposals to the State Duma.

In early March, another Russian woman, abducted in a similar scheme near the border of Myanmar and Thailand, was released as a result of joint actions of Russia and Myanmar.

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