Last week, 260 people got to walk free for the first time in a long time, thanks to the efforts of International Justice Mission (IJM) and other local Thai authorities.
The victims were working in industrial-scale, online scamming operations based in Myawaddy, Myanmar, and were from all over the world, including 19 different countries.
An ethnic armed militia group were the ones who initially went into the compound to free these people. After the rescue, the group handed over the victims to the Thai authorities across the border in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Victims of trafficking often need help to heal and then be reintegrated back into society, which is where IJM comes in. IJM Thailand mobilized around the victims that had been freed to provide translation services, assist survivors, and work with local officials to support the Thai government Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT) tasked with identifying victims of trafficking.
"The hope is that strengthened government victim identification in forced scamming cases will lead to better protection for migrant workers overall," says an IJM casework staff.
The fact is, while a few hundred people were set free from the scamming compound, IJM believes this is just the start to more rescues.
"This is the beginning of one of the largest releases of victims from the scam compounds in Myanmar, with hundreds or thousands expected to be freed in the coming weeks," said Andrew Wasuwongse, Country Director of International Justice Mission (IJM) Thailand. "We’re grateful for the Thai government and the non-profit organizations we partner with, who have been working tirelessly to support survivors of forced labor in online scam operations."
The Thai government has been cutting off supply of electricity and internet use to compounds like this one, which IJM encourages them to continue doing.
"These actions will strengthen Thailand’s commitment to cracking down on the criminal scam syndicates that have been operating with impunity for too long," said Wasuwongse.