More than 5,300 people still held in Myanmar scam centres: rights group

Those trapped in the compounds include Chinese, Philippine, Taiwanese, Malaysian and Brazilian nationals.More than 5,300 people remain trapped in online scam centres in Myanmar near the Thai border, despite a multinational crackdown in the region last year, a human rights group says.The Thai-based Civil Society Network for human trafficking Victim Assistance (CSNHTV) sent a letter to Thai police urging them to take action. It said many of those trapped were foreign nationals held at four locations inside areas controlled by the Myanmar-democratic-karen-buddhist-army" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="151291" data-entity-type="organization">Myanmar Democratic Karen Buddhist Army militia.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Dozens of South Koreans freed from Cambodia scam centres now home, arrestedlist 2 of 3ASEAN summit in Malaysia: Who’s attending and what to expectlist 3 of 3Myanmar military arrests more than 2,000 people at infamous scam centreend of listAccording to the CSNHTV, an estimated 1,600 people trapped are Chinese nationals, and about 200 are people of Myanmar, along with people from the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe.“Many of these compounds have yet to be dismantled or subjected to rescue operations to free all remaining victims,” it said.“As a result, these syndicates continue to engage in online fraud and human trafficking, causing harm to victims around the world, particularly in the United States and Europe.”Scam centres in Southeast Asia, including those in Myanmar and Cambodia, run illegal online schemes that are designed to defraud people worldwide.“Litany of abuse”The centres grew significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, and were initially tied to poorly run casinos and online gambling. They have now become a multibillion-dollar industry, according to the United Nations.A UN report in February said the facilities are mostly staffed by foreign nationals who have been trafficked by criminal gangs and subjected to abuse.