Myanmar Deports First Group Of Chinese Scammers To Thailand

On Thursday 20th of Feb 2025, the first group of hundreds of Chinese fraud center workers who would be deported through Thailand in the next few days was turned over by Myanmar.

In the upcoming weeks, thousands of foreigners are scheduled to be released and deported from fraud compounds in Myanmar, with (600) Chinese being released in the next (3) days. Later, on Thursday, a jet left Thailand with the 1st batch of Chinese workers from internet fraud centers to return home. Shortly after {11:30 am (0430 GMT)}, the specially scheduled China Southern Airlines aircraft departed from the western town of Mae Sot. Later in the day, a number of more flights will leave.

China Increase Pressure On Thailand

Foreigners, many of whom claim to have been kidnapped and forced to work operating online scams that defraud people worldwide, staff the compounds that criminal gangs operate. Beijing has increased pressure on Thailand and Myanmar to close the centers, and many of the participants are Chinese.

In regions it controls along the Thai border, the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF), a militia affiliated with the Myanmar government, has announced plans to expel (10,000) individuals connected to the compounds.

Also Read: Malaysia Declares That It Completely Rejects The Idea To Relocate Gazans By Force

Whereas the first group of returning workers was brought to the border station in the town of Mae Sot in western Thailand on Thursday morning by (two double-decker coaches), according to AFP journalists on the scene.

“The 1st (50) Chinese have arrived in Thailand and are on their way to the airport. A local border task force officer informed AFP that there would be (3) more groups (today), each with (50) Chinese.

In order to transport (600) of its citizens home straight from Mae Sot, China has scheduled (16) aircraft over the course of the next (3) days. It is unclear what would happen to the returnees in China, where Chinese security guards will likely board the aircraft.

Senior mistreated center workers

The announcement comes after Liu Zhongyi, China’s assistant minister of public security, made many trips to Bangkok and the border in the past few weeks to set up the return.

Since the industry’s worth has increased to billions of dollars annually, scam centers have sprung up all across Southeast Asia, especially in Cambodia as well as the Philippines.

Many workers claim that offers of well-paying employment charmed or deceived them into entering the centers, where they were essentially held captive and forced to conduct internet fraud while having their passports seized. Moreover AFP has spoken with a number of employees who were released from centers with serious burns and scratches, and several have said that their superiors assaulted them and mistreated them in other ways.