At the end of February, under the continuous pressure of China, Myanmar, and Thailand, the Myanmar "warlord" rescued 7,000 trapped individuals from a scam center in Myawaddy town on the Thai-Myanmar border.
According to Thai PBS World, the Border Guard Force (BGF) of Myanmar sent a list to Thailand's "Special Task Force" which included 7,141 people from 27 different countries, comprising 6,716 males and 425 females.
Details are as follows:
·China- 4860 people (Male 4764, Female 96)
·Vietnam- 572 people (Male 511, Female 61)
·India- 526 people (Male 498, Female 28)
·Ethiopia- 430 people (Male 396, Female 34)
·Indonesia- 283 people (Male 217, Female 66)
·Philippines- 127 people (Male 54, Female 73)
·Pakistan- 78 people (Male 64, Female 4)
·Malaysia- 70 people (Male 65, Female 5)
·Kenya- 64 people (Male 38, Female 26)
·Taiwan- 25 people (Male 24, Female 1)
·Nepal- 17 people (Male 15, Female 2)
·South Africa- 26 people (Male 19, Female 7)
·Uganda- 13 people (Male 5, Female 8)
·Stateless- 9 people
·Sri Lanka- 8 people (all male)
·Uzbekistan- 8 people (Male 7, Female 1)
·Nigeria- 7 people (Male 2, Female 5)
·Ghana- 6 people (Male 5, Female 1)
·Bangladesh- 6 people (all male)
·Cameroon- 6 people (Male 3, Female 3)
·Namibia- 4 people (Male 2, Female 2)
·Rwanda- 4 people (all male)
·Tunisia- 3 people (all male)
·Czech Republic- 2 people (1 male, 1 female)
·Laos- 1 person (female)
·Romania- 1 person (male)
·Algeria- 1 person (male)
·Singapore- 1 person (male)
Thai PBS World and the international rescue organization ACTS of Mercy have both released this list.
Although these over 7,000 victims have escaped the scam center, they are currently still detained within Myanmar, under the watch of the Myanmar warlords. They are waiting to be sent to Thailand, and then repatriated to their respective countries from there.
The major challenge now is how to transport so many people to Thailand and how to repatriate them afterward, as the repatriation process involves identity verification, which makes the whole process complex and slow.
The head of the international charity organization Act of Mercy, in an interview with the Associated Press, mentioned that transporting so many people to Thailand, identifying them, and providing them with food and shelter is a challenging task that requires cooperation from their home governments and embassies.
Since these over 7,000 people come from many different countries, and some African countries offer little help in repatriating their citizens...
A BBC report mentioned that some African governments only allow their citizens to fly home if someone else pays for it, but most of the rescued individuals are penniless and even their passports are still held by the scam center bosses.
Actually, as early as the beginning of February, the first batch of 260 scam victims were sent to Thailand, about 130 of whom were from Ethiopia. However, Ethiopia does not have an embassy in Thailand, which complicates the repatriation work, and these people are still stranded in Thailand.
Meanwhile, around the same time, more than 600 Chinese nationals involved in scams were repatriated to China on a chartered flight from China.
Thailand is concerned that if thousands of people pour into Thailand, they will have to take care of them "indefinitely."
Moreover, during the repatriation process, there is also a desire to screen these rescued "victims" to identify who were genuinely deceived into going there and who voluntarily participated in the scams, but currently, there seems to be no capacity to screen and identify such a large group of people.
Many are increasingly worried about a potential humanitarian crisis.
Another NGO head stated that he and many others are concerned that if these over 7,000 rescued individuals cannot enter Thailand quickly, the Myanmar warlords DKBA temporarily overseeing them might hand them back to the scam center bosses. If that happens, they might face severe punishment for "escaping."
The spokesperson for the Thai Ministry of Defense told the Associated Press that they are developing repatriation guidelines to avoid chaos. According to reports, officials from China, Myanmar, and Thailand will also meet soon to discuss how to manage these subsequent repatriation issues.
The international rescue organization Acts of Mercy stated on its Facebook page that among these 7,141 victims, each person has a name, a story, and a heart longing for freedom.
They are calling for help for these victims who still face many unknowns.
