The government is preparing for an influx of foreign victims released from the clutches of call-centre scam gangs in Myanmar after Thailand cut off power and internet, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Wednesday.
He made the comment just hours before the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) sent 261 such victims Thailand for repatriation. They arrived at Phop Phra district of Tak around 4.30 pm after being rescued from the KK Park and Shwe Kokko entertainment complexes.
The foreigners will be questioned and returned to their home countries with coordination from their embassies, Thai authorities said. As in past cases, it is expected that authorities will find that some were trafficked while others took the jobs willingly.
Earlier Wednesday, Mr Phumtham said he was informed on Tuesday the Myanmar government was expected to send 53 foreigners to Phop Phra, because it could not afford to take care of them.
But the Defence Ministry later clarified that the number of had risen to 261. The 53 foreigners on the original list included Bangladeshis, Ethiopians, Kenyans and Filipinos.
Thai officials will question all those returning about their experiences or possible involvement in trafficking, and check their background profiles. If they were not scammers, it would take three weeks to a month to arrange to send them back to their home countries. Others could be detained for legal action.
Mr Phumtham said that while Thailand was aware that gangs were preparing to release trapped workers and sending them to Thailand, the country could not accept them all.
“If their native countries will not accept them, we will not receive them [from Myanmar],” he said. Thailand would not set up a refugee camp for foreigners coming from scam centres, he added.
Mr Phumtham said several countries had contacted Thailand via their embassies to seek help for their citizens. When those victims are sent to Thailand, the embassies will be notified so they can proceed with the repatriation.
The government has also already deployed more security forces along the border to deal with any possible influx of people released from call centres, said Mr Phumtham, who is also the defence minister.
The government had told Myanmar authorities that Thailand would relax sanctions on provision of internet services, fuel and electricity if Myanmar proved it was free of scam centres, he said.
“We are on the right path. Threats to block imports from us do not concern us,” Mr Phumtham said.
He referred to recent protests by Myanmar nationals calling for a boycott of Thai goods following the cutting of power, fuel and internet services to the five border areas where the criminal networks are based.
According to sources at the border, more than 17,000 call-centre scam victims remain in Myanmar. About 10,000 are Chinese and the rest are other foreign nationals, the sources said.
Some of the 261 foreigners rescued from scam centres in Myawaddy get into army trucks to be transported to the Phop Phra district office in Tak for processing and preliminary questioning on Wednesday. (Photo: Assawin Pinitwong)
