Powerful ethnic militia in Myanmar repatriates 1,200 Chinese suspected of involvement in cybercrime

abcnews.go.com:

An official says that one of Myanmar’s biggest and most powerful ethnic minority militias has arrested and repatriated more than 1,200 Chinese nationals allegedly involved in criminal online scam operations

BANGKOK — One of Myanmar’s biggest and most powerful ethnic minority militias has arrested and repatriated more than 1,200 Chinese nationals allegedly involved in criminal online scam operations, an official of the group said Saturday.

The arrests were carried out in territory controlled by the United Wa State Army, or UWSA, in eastern Shan state in raids on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nyi Rang, a liaison officer from the militia, told The Associated Press.

He said in a text message that the arrested people were handed over to Chinese police at the border gate in Panghsang — also known as Pangkham city — the capital of Wa-administered territory on the border with China’s Yunnan province.

Cybercrime scams have become a major issue in Asia, as many of the workers employed to carry out the online scams are themselves victims of criminal gangs, who lure them with fake job offers and then force them to work in conditions of virtual slavery.

The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report last month that the gangs have forced hundreds of thousands of people in Southeast Asia into participating in scam operations that include false romance ploys, bogus investment pitches and illegal gambling schemes.

The report said that at least 120,000 people in strife-torn Myanmar and roughly 100,000 in Cambodia “may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams.”

It said the online scam centers in Myanmar are allegedly located in the towns in southeastern Kayin state along the Thai border and