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They were forced to scam others worldwide. Now thousands are detained on the Myanmar border (apnews.com)

submitted 2 days ago by misk@sopuli.xyz to c/news@beehaw.org

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Archive: https://archive.is/2025.03.10-000625/https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-thailand-scam-centers-trapped-humanitarian-c1cab4785e14f07859ed59c821a72bd2

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) — Thousands of sick, exhausted and terrified young men and women, from countries all over the world squat in rows, packed shoulder to shoulder, surgical masks covering their mouths and eyes.

Their nightmare was supposed to be over.

Last month, a dramatic and highly publicized operation by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities led to the release of more than 7,000 people from locked compounds in Myanmar where they were forced to trick Americans and others out of their life savings. But survivors have found themselves trapped once again, this time in overcrowded facilities with no medical care, limited food and no idea when they’ll be sent home.

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[–] melp@beehaw.org 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This story is huge and getting no where the amount of attention it should be getting. The rescues would be better funded if it weren't for Elon and Trump and the operations wouldn't exist without Elon. What a sad story. I feel for these people. I feel like the right NGO could organize a donation fund to at least get them a plane ticket home.

Waiting for a $600 plane ticket: Authorities in Thailand say they cannot allow foreigners to cross the border from Myanmar unless they can be sent home immediately, leaving many to wait for help from embassies that has been long in coming.

China sent a chartered flight Thursday to the tiny Mae Sot airport to pick up a group of its citizens, but few other governments have matched that. There are roughly 130 Ethiopians waiting in a Thai military base, stuck for want of a $600 plane ticket. Dozens of Indonesians were bused out one morning last week, pushing suitcases and carrying plastic bags with their meager possessions as they headed to Bangkok for a flight home.

The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration, for example, previously funded care for victims of trafficking in scam compounds in one shelter in Cambodia, but was forced to halt that work by the Trump Administration’s funding freeze announced in January, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. The halt to funding has also impacted a network of civil society groups that worked to stop human trafficking and rescue survivors in Thailand.

It’s not clear how much of an effect these releases will have on the criminal groups that run the scam centers.

February marked the third time the Thais have cut internet or electricity to towns across the river. Each time, the compounds have managed to work around the cuts. Large compounds have access to diesel-powered generators, as well as access to internet provider Starlink, experts working with law enforcement say.

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Many of them knowingly and willingly signed up to work as scammers and deserve to be sent to prison before they are sent home. I have little sympathy for them.

[–] melp@beehaw.org 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ohhh... ok. I figured they were trafficked.

[–] InevitableList@beehaw.org 5 points 1 day ago

Some are some aren't. This crackdown kicked off after a Chinese celebrity was kidnapped by one of these gangs after being lured to Bangkok with an offer of an acting gig. The fact that multiple compounds were raided but not a single gangster was arrested stinks. The fact that it's assumed all the workers are victims with hearts as pure as snow is bullshit. The AP isn't even covering half the story in this article.

The Thais are making a big show of shutting down a couple of compounds in the hopes that the Chinese tourists will come back and forgive them for turning a blind eye for so long but they can't even be bothered to identify or investigate the people who run them.