Myanmar actively backs crackdown
PUBLISHED : 28 Oct 2023 at 05:00
The Foreign Ministry has successfully helped 153 of 219 Thai nationals who fell victim to a human trafficking ring in the northern Shan State of Myanmar.
According to Kanchana Patarachoke, the ministry’s spokeswoman, the rescue followed reports filed with Thai authorities by the families of the victims, which said they had been lured to work in Myanmar in Laukkaing, in the northern part of Shan State. All reported having been assaulted by their employers.
The Royal Thai Embassy in Yangon has been in contact with related sectors regarding the rescue of Thai labourers who were lured by a criminal gang to work in Laukkaing sometime earlier this month, said Ms Kanchana.
Of the 153 Thai nationals who reported being safe, 120 are under the care of Myanmar authorities, 22 are waiting for officials at a hotel, and the other 11 are at the local police station, she said.
In the meantime, information regarding another 107 Thai nationals who were said to have fallen victim to a similar trafficking ring in Pyay, the principal town in Bago district, and the city nearby Laukkaing was reported to the ministry, according to Ms Kanchana.
Myanmar authorities have recently offered to assist with rescuing human trafficking victims of various nationalities.
One such operation, said Ms Kanchana, included the suppression of call centre scam gangs, in which Myanmar is working together with Chinese authorities.
With that said, Ms Kanchana said that the rescue process actually takes time and requires following Myanmar’s legal process.
Thai nationals were lured into working in Myanmar illegally and fell into trafficking scams in various forms, with the same promises of reasonable jobs and wages.
Thai authorities aim to help all of those returning to their motherland, said Ms Kanchana.
Regarding the Laukkaing area, Ms Kanchana said that the ministry, the Department of Consular Affairs, and the Royal Thai Embassy in Yangon had informed those not to succumb to the lure of working in this self-administered area as the region is riven with internal conflicts and foreigners had, until recently, been banned from entering the country.