YANGON : Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Tuesday ( Jan 21 ) it had deported to China more than 50,000 people suspected of involvement in online scam operations since October 2023, as it made a rare call to neighbouring countries to intervene.
Scam materials have mushroomed in Myanmar’s borders and are staffed by immigrants who are often trafficked and forced to work, swindling their colleagues in an industry experts say is for billions of dollars.
An editor published in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar paper on Tuesday detailed the amount of the legal actions – including online scams and playing – publicly for the first time.
It said the coup had caught and deported over 55,000 immigrants involved in borders schemes to their home states since October 2023, over 53,000 of them to China.
The second-largest dependent – over a thousand persons – was from Vietnam, followed by Thailand with above 600. The sleep came from around 25 different states, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar.
The post added those accountable were not Myanmar citizens or regular foreign residents but “fugitive criminals” who illegally entered Myanmar from neighbouring countries.
The junta called on its neighbours to “participate in combating online scams and online gambling”.
AFP has contacted Thai and Chinese authorities for comment.