The Myanmar junta-aligned Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF) said it would detain anyone suspected of torture at scam centers in Karen State.
BGF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Naing Maung Zaw told the media on Tuesday that six members of Chinese crime syndicates involved in the torture of trafficked victims would be handed over to the Chinese authorities as criminals.
Myawaddy Township in Karen State near the Thai border has become a hub for fraud rings primarily operated by Chinese crime syndicates.
Thousands of foreigners, lured by offers of high wages, were confined in scam compounds and forced to commit online fraud. The Myawaddy scam hubs are in territory held by the BGF, a junta ally now rebranded as the Karen National Army.
Amid pressure from China and Thailand, the BGF has recently declared a scam crackdown, raiding compounds in Myawaddy and rescuing several thousands of foreigners.
Escapees said they were given electric shocks and beaten with steel batons if they failed to meet targets.
Naing Maung Zaw said: “We have checked and recorded their injuries. We will detain those responsible and repatriate them as criminals. They will not be sent back as ordinary civilians.”
The spokesman admitted that the BGF did not do enough to inspect workplaces at Shwe Kokko, which allowed some Chinese business owners to torture trafficked people and force them to work.
Shwe Kokko, a “new city” project notorious for online fraud and human trafficking, was operated by a joint venture involving BGF leader Colonel Saw Chit Thu.
Naing Maung Zaw said rules prevented its troops from entering worksites and companies in Shwe Kokko. “It was Chinese gangs that tortured people,” he said.
He added that the BGF would identify the gang leaders and hand them to the Chinese authorities.
The armed group claimed that it had rescued around 2,000 people from Shwe Kokko since Friday and is negotiating with the Thai government about their repatriation.
A Chinese torture victim said: “Some died from torture. We are safe now and want to go home.”
Thailand is preparing arrest warrants for Saw Chit Thu and two other BGF leaders. Earlier this month, it cut off electricity and fuel supplies to five areas across the border, targeting scam compounds.
Sources tell The Irrawaddy that many scam operations continue as usual in Shwe Kokko.
