Thousands in limbo on Thai-Myanmar border after scam centre crackdown

By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thousands of foreigners freed from online scam-operating centres in Myanmar are stuck in limbo on the border with Thailand after a multinational crackdown on the compounds run by criminal gangs, three sources told Reuters on Monday.

In recent weeks, authorities from China, Thailand and Myanmar have attempted to dismantle scam centres and illegal online operations on the border, part of a network of illegal compounds across Southeast Asia where hundreds of thousands have been trafficked by gangs, according to the United Nations.

Thai and Cambodian police raided a building in a border town and freed 215 foreigners, a senior Thai official said on Sunday.

Two Myanmar armed groups - the Karen National Army (KNA) and the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)- are currently holding around 7,000 former scam centre workers but are unable to send them to Thailand, a Thai security official and two aid workers said.

"Many are stuck in limbo and Thailand's lack of response is causing great harm," said one of aid workers, currently on the Thai side of the border. "It is like these victims are being revictimised again."

Thailand's foreign ministry said that agencies are currently planning for future handovers of those freed, which would "proceed based on the readiness of the embassies or the countries of origin".

KNA and DKBA officials did not respond to calls from Reuters.

The majority of these workers are Chinese, with about 1,000 from other foreign countries, according to the aid workers.

Many of the former scam centre workers are being held in dire conditions and local authorities are concerned about the lack of sanitation and health facilities, they said.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said last Thursday that Thailand doesn't have the capacity to accept more people unless foreign embassies repatriate those crossing over.

Thailand this month accepted 260 scam centre workers, more than half of whom were from Ethiopia, which has no embassy in the country.

Thai authorities also allowed China to repatriate 621 of its nationals via a series of flights from a border town last week.

Scam centres have been operating in the region for years, but face renewed scrutiny after the rescue of Chinese actor, Wang Xing, who was lured to Thailand with the promise of a job, and then abducted and taken to one such centre in Myanmar.

Southeast Asian countries have since stepped up efforts to tackle scam centres, including Thailand cutting power, fuel and internet supply to areas linked with scam centres.

Since March 2022, financial losses incurred by victims of telecom scams in Thailand alone stand at 80 billion Thai baht ($2.4 billion), Thai Police Colonel Kreangkrai Puttaisong told reporters on Monday.

($1 = 33.4600 baht)

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat, Additional reporting by Shoon Naing and Chayut Setboonsarng, Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Michael Perry)