More than 5,300 people remain trapped in online scam centers in Myanmar near the Thai border, despite a multinational crackdown last year, a human rights group reported. The Thailand-based Civil Society Network for Human Trafficking Victim Assistance (CSNHTV) urged Thai police to act, noting many victims are foreign nationals held in areas controlled by the Myanmar Democratic Karen Buddhist Army militia.

According to CSNHTV, an estimated 1,600 of those trapped are Chinese nationals, about 200 are from Myanmar, and others come from the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. The group stated that many compounds have yet to be dismantled or subjected to rescue operations, allowing syndicates to continue online fraud and human trafficking, causing harm globally, particularly in the US and Europe.

Scam centers in Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar and Cambodia, run illegal online schemes to defraud people worldwide. They grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, initially tied to poorly run casinos and online gambling, and have become a multibillion-dollar industry, according to the United Nations.

A February UN report said these facilities are mostly staffed by foreign nationals trafficked by criminal gangs and subjected to abuse, including torture, sexual exploitation, forced abortions, food deprivation, and solitary confinement. UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk called the abuses staggering and heartbreaking, noting that victims often face disbelief and stigmatization rather than protection and justice.

Source: www.aljazeera.com