@OfclyGoodenough @scamterminator2021
→ SUMMARY:
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*Hundreds of people who had been working in Myanmar’s notorious scam centres, estimated to hold hundreds of thousands of human trafficker victims, mostly Chinese themselves, have left on the [first series] of evacuation flights organised BY China that took off from the capital, Mae Sot, and were carrying approximately 150 people each (taking as many as 1,000 in total) according to news agency DW.
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Money from the centres, estimated to have generated BILLIONS of dollars for both the Chinese underworld crime syndicates and for various armed groups operating along the thai border has also poured directly into both crime and Myanmar’s civil war. But last year, battlefield victories by ethnic insurgents along Myanmar’s border with China led to some of the most notorious scam centres being shut down with this latest group being found further south, working in an area controlled by ethnic Karen insurgents - both fighting for and against Myanmar’s military rulers, who took control in a coup in February 2021 and has now led to Myanmar’s Ministry of Public Security stating that about 44,000 people suspected to be involved in the scam centres have so far been handed over to the Chinese government..
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United Nations estimates, released last year, suggest as many as 120,000 people had been trafficked into centres in Myanmar, with a further 100,000 in Cambodia. Many of the trafficking victims are lured by adverts promising easy work and extravagant perks, only to find themselves held prisoner and forced to work in online scam centres. Those who do not comply face threats to their safety. Many have been subject to torture and inhuman treatment.