Over half of those sent to , Thailand , were Immigrants
PUBLISHED: 13 Feb 2025 at 19: 14
Thailand has received 260 human smuggling patients, more than half of them Ethiopians, from Myanmar, its military said on Thursday, in a large resettlement that comes amid a mounting assault on fraud facilities operating along a porous border.
According to the United Nations, criminal groups have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people and forced them to work in illegitimate online businesses that generate billions annually in Southeast Asia, particularly along the Thai-Myanmar borders. ” After screening the party and verifying their countries, it was found that there were 20 countries”, the Thai military said in a speech, with 138 spanning Africans.
Although these illegal activities have been ongoing for decades, Thai authorities made new efforts last month after Chinese artist Wang Xing was kidnapped in Bangkok and lured to a career in acting.
He was later freed by Thai officers who found him in , Myanmar.
On Wednesday, a huge group of trafficking victims who were sent up from , Myanmar’s Myawaddy place were seen crossing the Moei River to , Thailand, where they were directed onto Thai defense cars as men looked on.
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a , Myanmar , rebel group based along the Thai border, said it had found around 260 people from unspecified “businesses” when its personnel looked for forced labour in areas under its control.
” We don’t know how they got here”, the outfit’s chief of staff Major Saw San Aung told Reuters. ” We will send them back as we continue our search for forced labor.”
Thailand , earlier this month cut electricity, fuel and internet supply to parts of , Myanmar , where the illegal compounds operate, reflecting growing unease in Bangkok over the impact of scam centres on the vital tourism sector.  ,