Myanmar handed over 300 Chinese alleged fraud centre workers to Thailand for repatriation on Friday, as officials stepped up their assault on unlawful businesses.
Thousands of foreigners are expected to be repatriated from fraud complexes in Myanmar in the next weeks, with the first wave departing Thursday.
The compounds are operated by criminal gangs and staffed by foreigners, many of whom claim to have been trafficked and forced to cheat people all over the world through long-running internet fraud.
Myanmar’s junta said in a statement that a second group of 300 Chinese nationals was handed over on Friday via the Thailand-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2 at the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The statement also said the junta has been working “to identify, arrest, and take action on foreigners who are involved in online scam centres and those who are behind it”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun hailed the “thunder-style cooperation” between China, Myanmar and Thailand to tackle the scam centres.
“China and various countries are firmly determined to fight cross-border online gambling and telecom fraud and protect the lives and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens,” Guo said.
The first 50 Chinese nationals boarded a 10:40 am (0340 GMT) flight, with the rest expected to depart on five additional flights throughout the day.
A last set of flights is expected to return more Chinese nationals on Saturday.
Many of individuals released from fraud centers claim they were misled into working there and detained against their will, while the Chinese government and official media have referred to them all as “suspects”.
The Thai government announced on Thursday that biometric data would be collected from returning Chinese nationals to prevent “future misuse of Thailand as a criminal transit hub”.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinwatra met with her Lao counterpart on Thursday to discuss coordinated measures to eliminate scam centers along their common border.
