JAKARTA - More than 5,300 people remain trapped in scam compounds near Myanmar’s border with Thailand, the Civil Society Network for Human Trafficking Victim Assistance said in a June 22 letter to Thai police, according to Reuters.
The Thailand-based group said the victims were held at four locations inside areas controlled by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a Myanmar militia.
“Many of these compounds have yet to be dismantled or subjected to rescue operations to free all remaining victims,” CSNHTV said in the letter quoted by Reuters.
The human rights group estimated that those trapped included about 1,600 Chinese nationals, 200 Myanmar nationals and 20 Thais, along with citizens of the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
The appeal comes more than a year after Thailand helped pull about 5,000 people from scam hubs in Myanmar’s Myawaddy area. CSNHTV said large operations remain active in militia-controlled territory despite that earlier regional push.
The warning also follows new UN scrutiny this year. The UN Human Rights Office said in a February 20 report that people trafficked into cyber-scam operations are often lured by false job offers, then forced to commit online fraud under threats, confinement and violence.
Myanmar’s border areas remain central to the industry because scam compounds can operate in zones where state policing is weak or contested.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said in an April 21, 2025 release that scam operations in border areas and special economic zones across Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and the Philippines were shifting as enforcement pressure increased. UNODC also estimated that hundreds of industrial-scale scam centres generate just under USD40 billion in annual profits.
Reuters said two DKBA officials did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Myanmar’s military-backed government, which has publicly announced action against scam operations, also did not immediately respond to Reuters’ questions.
