A security guard stands guard next to a room full of alleged scam centre workers and victims during a crackdown on illicit activity in Shwe Kokko in Myanmar’s eastern Myawaddy township on Feb. 14, 2025. — AFP Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Myanmar authorities on February 18 detained 273 foreign nationals from scam compounds along the border with Thailand as part of a crackdown on illegal online activities.

The operation took place as representatives from China, Myanmar, and Thailand held a joint meeting in Myawaddy to discuss measures to combat telecom fraud across the three countries.

Hundreds of thousands of people trafficked by criminal gangs have been forced to work in scam compounds that have sprung up across Southeast Asia, including the border between Thailand and Myanmar, according to the United Nations' data.

Since the end of January, Myanmar authorities have found 1,303 foreigners who entered the country illegally and worked in scam compounds in the Myawaddy area, with 273 detained on February 18.

A group of 260 scam centre survivors from Myawaddy entered Thailand last week, most of them victims of human trafficking, said Choocheap Pongchai, the governor of the Thai province of Tak. — VNS