BANGKOK, Thailand— Hundreds of Chinese nationals freed from Myanmar online scam centers flew home through Thailand on Thursday, as the kingdom said it aimed to repatriate 1,500 such workers a week.
Thailand, Myanmar and China have been making efforts in recent weeks to clear out illegal cyberscam compounds on the Thai-Myanmar border where thousands of foreigners—mostly Chinese nationals—have been working.
Under pressure from key ally Beijing, Myanmar has cracked down on some of the compounds, freeing around 7,000 workers from more than two dozen countries.
Around 600 Chinese nationals were returned from Myanmar through Thailand two weeks ago, and last week the three countries held talks in Bangkok to arrange further transfers.
Thai media broadcast footage on Thursday of coaches bringing hundreds of Chinese workers from Myanmar and offloading them on to planes destined for China at Mae Sot airport.
The Thai border force later said that 456 Chinese nationals were sent back on six China Southern chartered aircraft.
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura told reporters that the government plans to repatriate 1,500 people per week, or 300 each weekday, with “regular repatriations of Chinese nationals every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.”
Mondays and Tuesdays would see other foreign nationals including Africans repatriated, he said, with the ministry coordinating with foreign embassies to help with “immediate” repatriations.
The remaining freed workers have been languishing for weeks in sometimes squalid conditions in holding camps near the Thai border while officials organize their repatriation.
Many workers say they were lured or tricked into taking the work—defrauding strangers online with investment, romance and gambling scams—and suffered beatings and abuse.
A Rwandan scam center worker who asked to remain anonymous told AFP on Wednesday that he had been trafficked into one of the compounds where he was tortured and had his money taken from him.
“It’s a big challenge. If I get home I will have a big challenge also,” he said.
Unsanitary conditions at the overcrowded makeshift encampments have raised concerns about possible disease outbreaks.
“There are sick people… they need be repatriated onto the Thai side as early as possible,” Nikorndej said.
