Thousands of people have been freed in recent weeks from the online scam centers operating near the Myanmar-Thai border. Most of them are stuck in limbo waiting to be flown home.

Over 280 Indians were being flown home through Thailand on Monday after they were freed from scam centers in Myanmar last week.

India’s government has sent a military transport plane to the Thai border town of Mae Sot to repatriate 266 men and 17 women. A second group of 257 will be brought home on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported.

Indian officials traveled to Myanmar to accompany seven buses that brought the Indian nationals over the border into Thailand.

What do we know about the situation?

Around 7,000 people from at least 24 countries have been released in recent weeks from online scam centers operating in lawless regions of Myanmar along the Thai border.

Under pressure from China — where most of the freed workers come from — Myanmar authorities have clamped down on the scam compounds, which are part of a growing, criminal multi-billion-dollar industry.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes estimates that in Asia alone between $18 billion (€16.6 billion) and $37 billion were lost to such scams in 2023.

Thousands of workers operate the centers targeting victims through fake investment schemes or romance scams online.

The UN estimates that as many as 120,000 people may be working in Myanmar scam centers against their will.

Many of the workers, who come from all over the world, say that they were tricked into taking on the job, lured by promises of lucrative wages. They also claim that they were subjected to beatings and other forms of abuse if they refused to work.

More than 2,000 Chinese nationals have been released since authorities from Myanmar, Thailand and China launched their joint crackdown last month.

Although they claim to be victims of modern-day slavery, China is treating the returnees as criminal suspects.

Thousands stuck in limbo amid unfolding humanitarian crisis

Having been freed from being forced to operate scam centers, thousands of mostly young workers are now being held in limbo hoping to be repatriated.

They are being held in overcrowded, unhygienic camps and former scam compounds in Myanmar controlled by armed militias — over a month after the crackdown by authorities started.

Thai authorities are refusing to let freed scam center workers cross from Myanmar until their home countries have arranged flights for them to leave.