New Delhi: India is working with authorities in Thailand to repatriate nearly 500 of its citizens who fled to that country from a notorious scam centre in Myanmar.
Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that a special flight is expected to evacuate the 500 Indians soon.
“We are aware of Indian nationals who have been detained by Thai authorities. They had crossed into Thailand from Myanmar over the past few days. Our mission in Thailand is working closely with Thai authorities to verify their nationality and to repatriate them after necessary legal formalities are completed,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Wednesday.
According to reports, more than 1,500 people from 28 countries, including India and China, fled to the border town of Mae Sot in Thailand last week after Myanmar’s military cracked down on the Chinese-backed cybercrime hub K K Park.
The Indians are among those lured with promises of lucrative jobs and then forced to work in sub-human conditions in cybercrime rings that operate in K K Park. There are also some who are involved in running the scam centres.
Officials said that the repatriation process is complicated as many of those who fled to Thailand from Myanmar do not have passports. In most cases, the passports they used to reach Myanmar were taken away by those running the racket. Such people are being treated as illegals by the Thai government.
The Thai PM said the Indian ambassador would work with the head of immigration to speed up the legal verification process for the 500 Indian nationals before the special flight repatriates them.
“India has asked for cooperation from Thailand; they don’t want this to burden us,” he told Reuters.
While India has not yet disclosed when the special flight will reach Thailand, Charnvirakul said it would land directly in Mae Sot, where the foreigners are detained.
India had brought back 549 of its nationals freed from cybercrime centres along the Myanmar-Thailand border in two military flights in March this year.
Myanmar’s sprawling K K Park is a notorious compound where several Chinese criminal gangs operate transnational cyber scams. The compound is guarded by local militia groups with links to Myanmar’s military commanders.
