According to Reuters, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha stated that about 7,000 people rescued from "illegal call centers" in Myanmar are waiting to be transferred to Thailand.
The Thai government is taking swift actions to address this issue. Recently, Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia have implemented measures such as power and internet cut-offs and strengthened legislation and law enforcement to severely crack down on cross-border crimes like telecommunication fraud and online gambling.
Several countries have also expressed their intentions to continue strengthening cooperation within ASEAN and with countries like China to intensify the joint crackdown on criminal gangs. According to the Bangkok Post on February 17, the Myanmar military has conducted raids on fraud centers in places like Myawaddy over the past three weeks, planning to phase out approximately 10,000 foreign nationals from the fraud parks.
Southeast Asian countries have recently been very active in combating transnational telecommunication fraud, from power and internet cut-offs to raid operations, with unprecedented intensity. The statement by Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha highlights the urgency of this issue.
The rescue of 7,000 people awaiting transfer is underpinned by the agony of countless families. The rampant cross-border crime reflects regulatory loopholes in some regions and the cunning of criminal gangs. It is necessary for countries to continue strengthening cooperation to completely eradicate these malignancies, preventing the innocent from being involved further.
