The crackdown coordinated among Thailand, Myanmar and China follows Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's visit to Beijing this month, where she told Chinese leader Xi Jinping that Thailand would act against the scam networks that have drawn in hundreds of thousands of people.
A new crackdown on online scam centers has led to over 7,000 people from around the world being held in a Myanmar border town awaiting repatriation, and those helping them say the unprecedented number is straining the resources of Thailand just across the border and leading to delays.
As part of Thailand’s crackdown, it also has cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar hosting scam centers along the border, citing national security.
Amy Miller, Southeast Asia director of aid group Act of Mercy International and based in Thailand's Mae Sot on the Myanmar border, told the AP she has never seen such a large-scale release of potential victims of human trafficking.
They are often lured under false pretenses to work in scam centers in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where they financially exploit people around the world through false romances, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.
