About 260 human trafficking victims, more than half of them Ethiopian, have been transferred into Thailand after being found along the Myanmar border by a rebel group.
The massive repatriation is just weeks after Thailand cut the power to border areas with Myanmar in a bid to stop criminal gang online fraud operations known as 'scam centres' in the region targeting foreign nationals.
The group was handed over by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBD), an insurgent Myanmar group, to the Thai Army on Wednesday.
DKBD told AFP the released victims had been working at a scam centre in Kyauk Khet, a village in Kayin state along the Thai-Myanmar border.
"We are continuing the search of forced labour, and we will send them back," the outfit's chief of staff Major Saw San Aung told Reuters.
The Thai army said the group had people from 20 different nations, including 138 Ethiopians.
The large group of trafficking victims sent back from Myanmar's Myawaddy area were seen crossing the Moei River to Thailand on Wednesday, where they were directed onto Thai military vehicles as soldiers looked on.
Crackdown after Chinese victims
Thailand has been mounting a crackdown on criminal scam centres comes after Chinese victims were rescued from human-trafficking online fraud operations last month.
Online fraud operations have flourished in recent years across Myanmar and other parts of South-East Asia, with survivors describing prison-like conditions.
Chinese actor Wang Xing was abducted in Thailand and rescued from a cyber fraud centre in Myanmar.
Chinese model Yang Zeqi and several other victims were also rescued from a human-trafficking ring in Myanmar's borderlands in January after being lured to Thailand with the promise of work.
The scam compounds are believed to be run by Chinese criminal syndicates and frequently use slave labour — luring people in with the promise of high-paying jobs, only for them to be held captive and forced to scam victims via the internet.
The cases have sparked fears about travel to Thailand among many Chinese nationals, who topped the list of visitors to the country last year
Security tightened on border
A Thai border official told AFP the compounds are now running on generators since Thailand cut off electricity and fuel supplies last week.
Security has been tightened in the area, with several Thai military checkpoints and signs warning of Thais and foreigners being "deceived" into working illegally online.
Last week, Chinese and Thai media reported that 61 people, including 39 from China, were released from a Myanmar scam compound and handed over to Thai authorities.
ABC/Reuters/AFP
