India to bring back 500 nationals from Thailand after Myanmar scam raids

India is planning to sending a special aircraft to Thailand to repatriate the group, most of whom were victims of the scam operations based in Myanmar's KK Park complex

Nearly 500 Indian nationals have entered Thailand following a crackdown on notorious cyber scam centres in Myanmar, according to a PTI report. India is working with Thai authorities to bring them home once the legal process is completed.

 

According to the report, the government is considering sending a special aircraft to Thailand to repatriate the group, most of whom were victims of the scam operations based in Myanmar’s KK Park complex.

 

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul confirmed that around 500 Indians are currently in Mae Sot, a town in western Thailand. “The Indian government will send a plane to take them back directly,” he said.

 

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian Embassy in Bangkok is in close coordination with Thai authorities. “We are aware of Indian nationals who have been detained by Thai authorities,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

 

“They had crossed into Thailand from Myanmar over the past few days. Our Mission in Thailand is working closely with Thai authorities to verify their nationality and to repatriate them, after necessary legal formalities are completed,” he added.   

 

Over 1,500 people flee Myanmar scam hubs

 

News reports indicate that the Indians are part of a larger group of more than 1,500 people from 28 countries who escaped Myanmar after the crackdown. The scam centres, notorious for running transnational cyber fraud operations, have drawn international concern.

 

A UN report earlier this year highlighted that hundreds of trafficked individuals from various nationalities were forced to commit online fraud in these centres. Similar operations have been identified in Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

 

Those who fled into Thailand include both victims and individuals involved in running the scam operations.

 

This is not the first such rescue effort. In March, India had successfully brought back 549 nationals who were freed from cyber scam centres located along the Myanmar-Thailand border.

 

Myanmar detains over 10,000 foreigners

 

Myanmar’s military government has detained more than 10,000 foreign nationals over the past nine months for alleged involvement in online scams, according to officials. The junta said the individuals had illegally entered the country to work in scam operations, Bloomberg had reported.

 

The Ministry of Information said that, as of October 27, authorities had detained 10,119 people in a joint crackdown with China and Thailand. Around 9,340 of them have already been repatriated, while arrangements are being made to return the remaining detainees.

 

The crackdown marks one of the largest efforts yet to curb Myanmar’s role in regional cyber fraud networks, which have grown rapidly since the 2021 military takeover.

 

Global pressure to dismantle scam hubs

 

The international community has been urging Myanmar’s junta to act against the billion-dollar scam industry. Last month, the US imposed sanctions on several companies operating in Shwe Kokko, a major online scam hub reportedly controlled by an ethnic armed group allied with the junta.

 

Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun accused the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic army that opposes the military, for enabling scam networks in KK Park, near the Thai-Myanmar border. He alleged that KNU leaders profited by leasing land and providing security for the gambling and scam centres.

 

Many scam centres in Myanmar reportedly relied on Starlink satellite internet to bypass restrictions. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, announced last week that it had disabled over 2,500 Starlink devices suspected of being used by cybercrime groups in Myanmar, Bloomberg report said.

 

However, KNU spokesperson Saw Taw Nee said the actual number could be even higher, noting that the network “was widely used there".