BANGKOK, March 21. /TASS/. Over 7,000 people working against their will at scam call centers in Myanmar have been liberated after a joint operation by authorities from Thailand, Myanmar, and China, Thai Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nikondet Phalangkun said.
"As of March 20, more than 7,300 foreign nationals rescued from Myanmar have been sent back to Thailand, 3,600 of which are Chinese citizens, 653 are from Indonesia, and 549 are from India. As many as 4,900 people have been returned to their home countries," he said, adding that several thousand more people are expected to arrive in Thailand soon.
In February, Thailand cut power supplies to five border regions in Myanmar where scam call centers are located. According to the Thai authorities, phone and internet scams have become a huge problem, with more than 500,000 people in the country falling victim to these hoaxes from 2022 to 2024. The overall losses are estimated at more than 60 billion baht ($1.8 billion). Experts say that around 17,000 people, including around 10,000 Chinese nationals, may have fallen pray to the scams and were being held at the centers under exploitative conditions. Since February 20, nearly 1,200 freed Chinese citizens have been brought back home from Thailand every week.
Scam call centers in Myanmar employ many foreigners who claim to have been deceived into working there under false pretenses by criminals. Myanmar Kayin State’s authorities said earlier that around 10,000 people freed from scam call centers were to be deported to Thailand.