“HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME”
Scam centres have sprung up in Myanmar’s lawless border areas in recent years as part of a criminal industry worth billions of dollars a year.
Thousands of foreign workers staff the centres, trawling social media for victims to fleece, often through romance or investment cons.
Many workers say they were trafficked or tricked into taking the work and suffer beatings and abuse, though the government in China – where most come from – regards them as criminal suspects.
Under heavy pressure from Beijing, Myanmar’s junta and allied militias have taken action to curb the centres.
The “crackdown” has so far involved armed uniformed men coming to the sites and asking for volunteers to leave and go home, several freed workers told AFP in Myawaddy.
But processing the workers for repatriation has been slow, leaving them trapped in limbo, smoking and playing cards to pass the time in the detention facility, which has a roof but no walls to keep the elements and insects out.
Many had their passports confiscated by scam centre bosses, and those AFP spoke to said their mobile phones were taken away.
An Indian man who said he was tricked into working in the scam centres after applying for a data entry job in Thailand, told AFP he had contacted his embassy in Bangkok several times.
He begged them “help me, help me, help me. But no one helps me”, he said.
“The feeling is not good because we are in trouble right now.”
Source: CNA
