It’s a stark reality that thousands of individuals from various countries, including Indonesia, have fallen prey to the allure of lucrative job offers in Southeast Asia, only to find themselves ensnared in the clutches of transnational crime syndicates that operate online scamming rings. In a recent development, Indonesian authorities have announced that approximately 561 of its citizens, who were rescued from online scam centers in Myanmar, are set to be repatriated via Thailand in the coming days.
According to Judo Nukrahah, Director of Citizen Protection at Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, around 400 Indonesians are scheduled to return home on Tuesday, while an additional 161 are expected to follow on Wednesday. Their journey back to Indonesia will commence with a crossing into Thailand from Myanmar, after which they will board flights from Bangkok. This latest repatriation effort follows a similar incident last month, where 140 Indonesian citizens were returned home through Thailand.
The issue of online scamming has been a persistent problem in the region, with numerous cases of individuals being lured to countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam with promises of high-paying jobs, only to be exploited by crime syndicates. Between 2020 and September last year, Indonesian authorities successfully repatriated over 4,700 of its citizens who were trapped in online scamming networks across these countries.
In recent weeks, approximately 7,000 workers from at least 24 countries, mostly Chinese nationals, have been rescued from these online scamming rings. However, many more remain stranded in squalid temporary camps along the Myanmar-Thailand border. The United Nations has warned that up to 120,000 people, predominantly Chinese men, may be forcibly working in Myanmar’s scam centers, which have thrived in the country’s lawless border regions for years. These cybercrime operations often promise high pay to unsuspecting workers, only to detain and coerce them into engaging in online fraud.
Source: channelnewsasia