84 Indonesians freed from scam centers in Myanmar arrive home

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Eighty-four Indonesians freed from scam centers in Myanmar arrived in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, late Friday, part of a massive repatriation movement that is straining regional resources.

They were among more than 7,000 people being held in the Myanmar border town Myawaddy following a crackdown on the scam centers by Thailand, Myanmar and China. Two buses carrying the Indonesians arrived Thursday in the Thai border city of Mae Sot, where the passengers had health checks, and their identities were verified.

The 84 Indonesians, which included 69 men and 15 women, were brought home on three commercial flights Friday. The first flight, carrying 38 evacuees, arrived at 8:05 p.m. local time. The evacuees, many wearing dark hoodies, red scarves, and face masks, declined to comment to the media following a briefing by Indonesian authorities.

They were escorted through a crush of reporters outside an arrival terminal at Soekarno-Hatta international airport into a waiting bus.

“They were healthy,” said Judha Nugraha, the foreign affairs ministry's director for citizen Protection, who, along with Indonesian diplomats in Yangon and Bangkok had been in Mae Sot since Feb. 23 to coordinate with various parties in Thailand and Myanmar.

“This is a long repatriation process carried out by the Indonesian government in collaboration with authorities in Thailand and Myanmar,” Nugraha told reporters at the airport. He added that the government continues to communicate with Thai and Myanmar authorities to facilitate the return of more than 360 Indonesians who were stranded in Myanmar after leaving the scam centers. It was not immediately clear why only 84 were being repatriated.

Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been lured to work in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where they are forced to perpetrate global scams involving false romances, fraudulent investments, and illegal gambling. Many of the workers were recruited under false pretenses, only to find themselves trapped in virtual slavery.

Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry said that approximately 6,800 Indonesians have fallen victim to illegal job scams in Myanmar and several other countries over the past few years.

The crackdown on the scam centers followed a meeting in Beijing in early February between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Chinese leader Xi Jinping where she said Thailand would crack down on the scam networks.

Thailand has cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar hosting scam centers along the border.

More than 600 Chinese nationals were repatriated last week. Earlier, some 260 people from 20 countries, including Ethiopia, Brazil and the Philippines, crossed from Myanmar into Thai custody. Many have returned home but more than 100 remain in Thailand awaiting repatriation, Thai officials said.

“This case is a valuable lesson for people to be careful in looking for work abroad,” Nugraha said, “We call on all Indonesian citizens to find jobs overseas in the right way, legally and according to existing procedures, for the sake of their safety in obtaining the welfare as expected.