India Working to Repatriate Nationals Detained in Thailand: MEA

The official spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, has finally spoken up about Indian nationals detained by Thailand who had crossed into the country from Myanmar.

Jaiswal’s post on X about the situation read, “We are aware of Indian nationals who have been detained by Thai authorities. They had crossed into Thailand from Myanmar over the past few days. Our Mission in Thailand is working closely with Thai authorities to verify their nationality and to repatriate them, after necessary legal formalities are completed in Thailand.”

Why are the Indian nationals detained in Thailand?

The group of Indian nationals was detained in Thailand for trying to cross into the country from Myanmar. According to an AFP report that quoted Thai provincial officials, they were among many who were fleeing Myanmar after a massive crackdown at KK Park compound, located in the Myawaddy region of the country, that is widely infamous for being a hub of cybercrime operations.

Officials of Tak province of Thailand had earlier confirmed that about 1049 people entered Thailand from Mae Sot between Wednesday and Friday, which is significantly more than the 677 people who entered the region on Thursday. This diverse group included nationals from India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand, along with people from over a dozen other nations, though Thai authorities noted that most of them were Chinese men.

Thai PBS also aired footage where people can be seen crossing the Moei River on foam boxes to escape Myanmar after the raid on a cybercrime hub by Myanmar’s military.

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Rise of cybercrime in Myanmar

Myanmar’s longstanding internal conflict, weak governance, and largely weak border regions have made the country a haven for organized crime syndicates running elaborate online scams. KK Park, the complex that Myanmar’s military raided, is the frontline for a multi-billion-dollar fraud industry.

A report by the international publication, The Guardian, quotes data from an independent thinktank, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which states that the number of Myanmar’s scam centres on the Thailand border has gone up from 11 to 27, and they have expanded in size by an average of 5.5 hectares per month ever since the military seized power in Myanmar in 2021.

Additionally, this multi-billion-dollar industry runs on human exploitation. The same Guardian report states that according to the estimates of Thailand’s police, there are more than 1,00,000 trafficked people who work in the KK Park’s scam centres, often enduring untold punishment, torture, and violence.