Thousands of foreigners are expected to be freed and returned from scam compounds in Myanmar in coming weeks, starting with 600 Chinese nationals over the next three days.
Many of those involved are Chinese, and Beijing has stepped up pressure on Myanmar and Thailand to shut the centres down.
Two double-decker coaches delivered a first group of workers across the border from Myanmar onto the tarmac of an airport in the western Thai town of Mae Sot on Thursday morning.
China has arranged 16 flights over the next three days to ferry 600 of its nationals home from Mae Sot.
“Two hundred Chinese nationals involved in online gambling, telecom fraud, and other crimes were handed over in accordance with legal procedures through Thailand this morning, in the spirit of humanitarianism and friendship between countries,” the Myanmar junta said in a statement.
The release follows several visits by China’s Public Security Assistant Minister Liu Zhongyi to Bangkok and the border in recent weeks to arrange the repatriation.
Scam centres have proliferated across Southeast Asia in recent years, including in Cambodia and the Philippines, as the value of the industry has boomed to billions of dollars a year.
Many workers say they were lured or tricked into the centres by promises of high-paying jobs before they were effectively held hostage, their passports taken from them while they were forced to commit online fraud.
