India will send a plane to repatriate 500 citizens who fled a Myanmar cybercrime centre into Thailand, says Thai Prime Minister Anutin.
BANGKOK: India plans to send an aeroplane to repatriate approximately 500 of its nationals who crossed into Thailand after a military raid on a notorious scam centre in Myanmar.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced the plan on Wednesday following a series of military operations by the Myanmar military against the KK Park cybercrime compound.
The operations, which started last week, drove a large number of people, mostly foreign nationals who worked there, into the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
Local authorities stated that more than 1,500 people from 28 countries have fled and are now being cared for in Thailand.
Prime Minister Anutin said the Indian ambassador will meet with the head of immigration to expedite the legal verification process for the 500 Indian nationals before their flight home.
He added that India has requested cooperation from Thailand and does not wish to burden the host nation.
India will send a plane to collect these victims, with the aircraft landing directly in Mae Sot.
India previously sent a plane earlier this year to repatriate its nationals after thousands were freed from cyberscam centres along the Thai-Myanmar border during a regional crackdown.
Myanmar’s KK Park is a notorious enclave known to international law enforcement and diplomats for its involvement in transnational cyberscams.
The sprawling KK Park compound and others nearby are run primarily by Chinese criminal gangs and guarded by local militia groups aligned with Myanmar’s military.
The border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have become hubs for online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Nations says billions of dollars have been earned from the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of people forced to work in these compounds.
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