Latest news with #Thai-Myanmar
Straits Times
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Over 200 foreigners rescued from scam centres still stranded along Thai-Myanmar border
The Karen National Army claims to have repatriated more than 8,000 foreign nationals after rescuing them from scam centres in recent months. PHOTO: REUTERS Over 200 foreigners rescued from scam centres still stranded along Thai-Myanmar border YANGON - More than 200 foreign nationals rescued from scam centres in eastern Myanmar remain stranded along the war-torn country's border with Thailand, according to a local rebel group overseeing their repatriation. For years criminal networks have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people to scam compounds across South-east Asia, including many along the Thai-Myanmar border, where victims are forced to work in illegal online schemes, according to the United Nations. Karen National Army, a rebel group that claims to have repatriated more than 8,000 foreign nationals after rescuing them from scam centres in Myanmar's Myawaddy area in recent months, said it was currently housing 216 people, including citizens of Vietnam, China, the Philippines, and Indonesia. "We are giving food and medical supplies to these people," KNA spokesperson Naing Maung Zaw told Reuters on June 24. "Some are even pregnant, and we are providing health care for them." Since February, Thailand has halted electricity, internet, and fuel supplies to five Myanmar border areas, including Myawaddy, in a bid to disrupt the scam centres, which have become an escalating regional security concern. Two residents of Myawaddy, which lies across from the Thai town of Mae Sot, said that there hasn't been any electricity supplied from Thailand for months. Power supplied by the Myanmar government has not been stable, leaving much of the settlement - and the scam centres surrounding it - reliant on generators, they said. Thailand's embattled Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on June 23 that her administration was planning to curtail electricity supplies to illegal operations in Cambodia, following a sharp decline in relations between the neighbours. "After we cut electricity and water to Myanmar, the number of complaints dropped significantly," Ms Paetongtarn told reporters. "We've since learned that the criminal activity has moved from Myanmar to Cambodia." The Cambodian government denies the allegations. International pressure to shut down the scam centres intensified following the abduction of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was kidnapped after arriving in Thailand in January. He was later rescued by Thai police, who located him across the border in Myanmar. Criminal networks, mainly emanating from China, are known to run several of these scam centres, including those in the Myawaddy region, according to the United States Institute of Peace. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Sydney Morning Herald
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
How a river saved a village when war reached its doorstep
Zach Hope and Kate Geraghty travel to the borderlands near Myanmar, where efforts are under way to rescue thousands of trafficking victims from scam factories. See all 7 stories. Ayoung woman crouches by a gap in the bamboo fence of Thailand's biggest refugee camp, her head askew, eyes peering through barbed-wire strands at the sparse oncoming traffic. She is anticipating a taxi – a family member has a doctor's appointment in the nearest Thai town. When the car pulls up, they will need to move fast, as they do not want the attention of the guards. Almost 40,000 people live in the Mae La camp, a crowded jumble of tin and timber homes and rambling tracks, close to the border with Myanmar. The occupants are mostly Karen, an ethnic group from south-eastern Myanmar. No one is allowed to leave without special short-term permission, unless to return to the homelands they have fled over decades of civil war. Even trips to the doctor must be discreet. Mae La is the largest of nine camps on the Thai side of the border. Many residents, longing for third-country resettlement and peace, have known no other life. The latest iteration of Myanmar's civil war, brought on by the 2021 military coup that removed the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, has added 20,000 people to the camps, pushing the combined population above 100,000. Loading 'But there is no more space, so we cannot build new houses,' Karen Refugee Committee secretary Saw Bweh Say says. The committee has been operating along the Thai-Myanmar border for more than 40 years. In addition to increased population pressure, US President Donald Trump's order to freeze foreign aid has crippled the capacity of at least one major non-government organisation to deliver healthcare, water and sanitation. Another major non-government organisation, The Border Consortium, said on Friday (World Refugee Day) it had been forced to reduce rations to 'well below international standards', though it did not cite the Trump administration as the cause. While some people get help from relatives overseas and a small number slip out to work illegally, about 80 per cent depend on NGOs for their everyday needs, the secretary says. Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, meaning the camp populations are not recognised as such, and are restricted in their movements and activities. 'Life in a refugee camp is you cannot work and you cannot do anything with your daily life,' 70-year-old Mae La resident Naw Mu says. 'When USAID was suspended, we faced a food shortage – they reduced the monthly food ration – and we don't get enough water. 'On the other hand, when you look at the Burma [Myanmar] situation, there is no peace. People face difficulties every day. They cannot live in their villages.' Naw Shee Eh Plo, the eldest daughter of Karen revolutionaries, came to Mae La in 1997 because it was unsafe at home. 'If we cannot go back to Burma or another country, then I prefer to stay here,' she says. 'I don't have hope for peace in Burma.' Saw Bweh Say, the Karen committee secretary, hopes Thailand will change its position on recognising refugees, allowing adults to work and children to attend formal education. Still, he is grateful. For 50 years, the Thai government and people have allowed the Karen refugees a safe haven. For those still in the Karen lands of Myanmar, life can be upended – and ended – at any moment by military air raids and drone attacks. This masthead met a group of internally displaced people in the Thai town of Noh Bo, about 50 kilometres north of the Mae La camp. Loading The men had crossed the shallow Moei River border that morning – not because of an immediate threat, but because they wanted Australians to be aware of what is happening to them and their country. The Myanmar civil war, though unfolding in Australia's region, is overshadowed by the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and now Iran. But it is no less barbarous, claiming about 50,000 lives, including 6000 civilians, since February 2021. About 20 million people – more than a third of Myanmar's population – need humanitarian assistance and 3.5 million people are internally displaced. These young men are among these numbers. On February 27, the State Administration Council, as the military regime is called, bombed positions of the Karen National Liberation Army, one of Myanmar's many ethnic resistance forces. The fighting was almost at the village of Pu Lu Palaw, forcing the civilians to wade over the river to the safety of Noh Bo, aided by Thai military border patrol teams. 'We could not even bring anything with us,' Saw Hser Khu, a weathered 39-year-old former fisherman, says. Hundreds crammed inside the Noh Bo church. Hundreds more slept where they could outside. When things calmed down, they crossed back to Myanmar, but Pu Lu Palaw was still not safe. 'Mostly, people now sleep by riverbank, but those who are quick, they stay in their homes,' Saw Hser Khu says with a grin, only half-joking. Some have family on the Thailand side, and this masthead witnessed several family groups crossing the river with sacks of rice and whatever else they could carry above the waist-high waterline. Military planes are a regular sight and sound above the hazy mountains. 'If the [regime] see a lot of people in the village, they will bomb,' Saw Hser Khu says. 'We were lucky that we were already in hiding.' Almost all the group living in Pu Lu Palaw has fled there from elsewhere in Myanmar because of the fighting. Now, they are displaced again. As there is almost no work, the villagers on the riverbank rely on charity and NGOs for most of their needs. Those with a little bit of money sometimes cross into Noh Bo to buy rice and supplies. Those without often go hungry, the men say. At the end of the day, it is time for the villagers to leave Noh Bo and return to the Myanmar riverbank. This masthead follows them down the steep track, past the Thai military observation post. They pause on the way to point out an abandoned regime military base, shrouded by trees at the tip of a Myanmar mountain. At the river, we exchange thank yous and farewells. Then, they pull up their shorts and pants legs, and wade back to broken Myanmar.
Sydney Morning Herald
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
The villagers who waded across a river to tell us their story
Zach Hope and Kate Geraghty travel to the borderlands near Myanmar, where efforts are under way to rescue thousands of trafficking victims from scam factories. See all 7 stories. Ayoung woman crouches by a gap in the bamboo fence of Thailand's biggest refugee camp, her head askew, eyes peering through barbed-wire strands at the sparse oncoming traffic. She is anticipating a taxi – a family member has a doctor's appointment in the nearest Thai town. When the car pulls up, they will need to move fast, as they do not want the attention of the guards. Almost 40,000 people live in the Mae La camp, a crowded jumble of tin and timber homes and rambling tracks, close to the border with Myanmar. The occupants are mostly Karen, an ethnic group from south-eastern Myanmar. No one is allowed to leave without special short-term permission, unless to return to the homelands they have fled over decades of civil war. Even trips to the doctor must be discreet. Mae La is the largest of nine camps on the Thai side of the border. Many residents, longing for third-country resettlement and peace, have known no other life. The latest iteration of Myanmar's civil war, brought on by the 2021 military coup that removed the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, has added 20,000 people to the camps, pushing the combined population above 100,000. Loading 'But there is no more space, so we cannot build new houses,' Karen Refugee Committee secretary Saw Bweh Say says. The committee has been operating along the Thai-Myanmar border for more than 40 years. In addition to increased population pressure, US President Donald Trump's order to freeze foreign aid has crippled the capacity of at least one major non-government organisation to deliver healthcare, water and sanitation. Another major non-government organisation, The Border Consortium, said on Friday (World Refugee Day) it had been forced to reduce rations to 'well below international standards', though it did not cite the Trump administration as the cause. While some people get help from relatives overseas and a small number slip out to work illegally, about 80 per cent depend on NGOs for their everyday needs, the secretary says. Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, meaning the camp populations are not recognised as such, and are restricted in their movements and activities. 'Life in a refugee camp is you cannot work and you cannot do anything with your daily life,' 70-year-old Mae La resident Naw Mu says. 'When USAID was suspended, we faced a food shortage – they reduced the monthly food ration – and we don't get enough water. 'On the other hand, when you look at the Burma [Myanmar] situation, there is no peace. People face difficulties every day. They cannot live in their villages.' Naw Shee Eh Plo, the eldest daughter of Karen revolutionaries, came to Mae La in 1997 because it was unsafe at home. 'If we cannot go back to Burma or another country, then I prefer to stay here,' she says. 'I don't have hope for peace in Burma.' Saw Bweh Say, the Karen committee secretary, hopes Thailand will change its position on recognising refugees, allowing adults to work and children to attend formal education. Still, he is grateful. For 50 years, the Thai government and people have allowed the Karen refugees a safe haven. For those still in the Karen lands of Myanmar, life can be upended – and ended – at any moment by military air raids and drone attacks. This masthead met a group of internally displaced people in the Thai town of Noh Bo, about 50 kilometres north of the Mae La camp. Loading The men had crossed the shallow Moei River border that morning – not because of an immediate threat, but because they wanted Australians to be aware of what is happening to them and their country. The Myanmar civil war, though unfolding in Australia's region, is overshadowed by the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and now Iran. But it is no less barbarous, claiming about 50,000 lives, including 6000 civilians, since February 2021. About 20 million people – more than a third of Myanmar's population – need humanitarian assistance and 3.5 million people are internally displaced. These young men are among these numbers. On February 27, the State Administration Council, as the military regime is called, bombed positions of the Karen National Liberation Army, one of Myanmar's many ethnic resistance forces. The fighting was almost at the village of Pu Lu Palaw, forcing the civilians to wade over the river to the safety of Noh Bo, aided by Thai military border patrol teams. 'We could not even bring anything with us,' Saw Hser Khu, a weathered 39-year-old former fisherman, says. Hundreds crammed inside the Noh Bo church. Hundreds more slept where they could outside. When things calmed down, they crossed back to Myanmar, but Pu Lu Palaw was still not safe. 'Mostly, people now sleep by riverbank, but those who are quick, they stay in their homes,' Saw Hser Khu says with a grin, only half-joking. Some have family on the Thailand side, and this masthead witnessed several family groups crossing the river with sacks of rice and whatever else they could carry above the waist-high waterline. Military planes are a regular sight and sound above the hazy mountains. 'If the [regime] see a lot of people in the village, they will bomb,' Saw Hser Khu says. 'We were lucky that we were already in hiding.' Almost all the group living in Pu Lu Palaw has fled there from elsewhere in Myanmar because of the fighting. Now, they are displaced again. As there is almost no work, the villagers on the riverbank rely on charity and NGOs for most of their needs. Those with a little bit of money sometimes cross into Noh Bo to buy rice and supplies. Those without often go hungry, the men say. At the end of the day, it is time for the villagers to leave Noh Bo and return to the Myanmar riverbank. This masthead follows them down the steep track, past the Thai military observation post. They pause on the way to point out an abandoned regime military base, shrouded by trees at the tip of a Myanmar mountain. At the river, we exchange thank yous and farewells. Then, they pull up their shorts and pants legs, and wade back to broken Myanmar.
The Age
22-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
The villagers who waded across a river to tell us their story
Zach Hope and Kate Geraghty travel to the borderlands near Myanmar, where efforts are under way to rescue thousands of trafficking victims from scam factories. See all 7 stories. Ayoung woman crouches by a gap in the bamboo fence of Thailand's biggest refugee camp, her head askew, eyes peering through barbed-wire strands at the sparse oncoming traffic. She is anticipating a taxi – a family member has a doctor's appointment in the nearest Thai town. When the car pulls up, they will need to move fast, as they do not want the attention of the guards. Almost 40,000 people live in the Mae La camp, a crowded jumble of tin and timber homes and rambling tracks, close to the border with Myanmar. The occupants are mostly Karen, an ethnic group from south-eastern Myanmar. No one is allowed to leave without special short-term permission, unless to return to the homelands they have fled over decades of civil war. Even trips to the doctor must be discreet. Mae La is the largest of nine camps on the Thai side of the border. Many residents, longing for third-country resettlement and peace, have known no other life. The latest iteration of Myanmar's civil war, brought on by the 2021 military coup that removed the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, has added 20,000 people to the camps, pushing the combined population above 100,000. Loading 'But there is no more space, so we cannot build new houses,' Karen Refugee Committee secretary Saw Bweh Say says. The committee has been operating along the Thai-Myanmar border for more than 40 years. In addition to increased population pressure, US President Donald Trump's order to freeze foreign aid has crippled the capacity of at least one major non-government organisation to deliver healthcare, water and sanitation. Another major non-government organisation, The Border Consortium, said on Friday (World Refugee Day) it had been forced to reduce rations to 'well below international standards', though it did not cite the Trump administration as the cause. While some people get help from relatives overseas and a small number slip out to work illegally, about 80 per cent depend on NGOs for their everyday needs, the secretary says. Thailand is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, meaning the camp populations are not recognised as such, and are restricted in their movements and activities. 'Life in a refugee camp is you cannot work and you cannot do anything with your daily life,' 70-year-old Mae La resident Naw Mu says. 'When USAID was suspended, we faced a food shortage – they reduced the monthly food ration – and we don't get enough water. 'On the other hand, when you look at the Burma [Myanmar] situation, there is no peace. People face difficulties every day. They cannot live in their villages.' Naw Shee Eh Plo, the eldest daughter of Karen revolutionaries, came to Mae La in 1997 because it was unsafe at home. 'If we cannot go back to Burma or another country, then I prefer to stay here,' she says. 'I don't have hope for peace in Burma.' Saw Bweh Say, the Karen committee secretary, hopes Thailand will change its position on recognising refugees, allowing adults to work and children to attend formal education. Still, he is grateful. For 50 years, the Thai government and people have allowed the Karen refugees a safe haven. For those still in the Karen lands of Myanmar, life can be upended – and ended – at any moment by military air raids and drone attacks. This masthead met a group of internally displaced people in the Thai town of Noh Bo, about 50 kilometres north of the Mae La camp. Loading The men had crossed the shallow Moei River border that morning – not because of an immediate threat, but because they wanted Australians to be aware of what is happening to them and their country. The Myanmar civil war, though unfolding in Australia's region, is overshadowed by the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and now Iran. But it is no less barbarous, claiming about 50,000 lives, including 6000 civilians, since February 2021. About 20 million people – more than a third of Myanmar's population – need humanitarian assistance and 3.5 million people are internally displaced. These young men are among these numbers. On February 27, the State Administration Council, as the military regime is called, bombed positions of the Karen National Liberation Army, one of Myanmar's many ethnic resistance forces. The fighting was almost at the village of Pu Lu Palaw, forcing the civilians to wade over the river to the safety of Noh Bo, aided by Thai military border patrol teams. 'We could not even bring anything with us,' Saw Hser Khu, a weathered 39-year-old former fisherman, says. Hundreds crammed inside the Noh Bo church. Hundreds more slept where they could outside. When things calmed down, they crossed back to Myanmar, but Pu Lu Palaw was still not safe. 'Mostly, people now sleep by riverbank, but those who are quick, they stay in their homes,' Saw Hser Khu says with a grin, only half-joking. Some have family on the Thailand side, and this masthead witnessed several family groups crossing the river with sacks of rice and whatever else they could carry above the waist-high waterline. Military planes are a regular sight and sound above the hazy mountains. 'If the [regime] see a lot of people in the village, they will bomb,' Saw Hser Khu says. 'We were lucky that we were already in hiding.' Almost all the group living in Pu Lu Palaw has fled there from elsewhere in Myanmar because of the fighting. Now, they are displaced again. As there is almost no work, the villagers on the riverbank rely on charity and NGOs for most of their needs. Those with a little bit of money sometimes cross into Noh Bo to buy rice and supplies. Those without often go hungry, the men say. At the end of the day, it is time for the villagers to leave Noh Bo and return to the Myanmar riverbank. This masthead follows them down the steep track, past the Thai military observation post. They pause on the way to point out an abandoned regime military base, shrouded by trees at the tip of a Myanmar mountain. At the river, we exchange thank yous and farewells. Then, they pull up their shorts and pants legs, and wade back to broken Myanmar.
Korea Herald
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
South Korean civil groups deliver solidarity aid for democracy in Myanmar
Two South Korean civil society leaders visited the Thai-Myanmar border town of Mae Sot to express support for Myanmar's pro-democracy movement and deliver financial aid for wounded resistance fighters, the Resource Center for Asian NGOs at Sungkonghoe University said Wednesday. Park Eun-hong, director of the Resource Center for Asian NGOs at Sungkonghoe University, and Jeon Yae-rin, deputy leader of the Democracy School without Borders, met with members of the People's Defense Force on June 13. The PDF is a civilian militia formed in response to the military coup led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 1, 2021. The grassroots resistance has continued for over four years in pursuit of restoring democracy in Myanmar. During their visit, Park and Jeon delivered financial support for the treatment of injured PDF fighters and shared an educational video about key issues in South Korea's democratic development. The video was produced using compensation funds received by former Seoul Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon and other pro-democracy activists, which were donated to the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Fund under the Beautiful Foundation. On June 14, the pair also visited the Sunshine Care Center. Around 120 injured individuals are receiving treatment at the makeshift medical facility under dire conditions, without proper medical personnel or equipment, according to Park. "South Korean society, which once overcame martial law and authoritarian rule, must show greater concern for the suffering of the Myanmar people and the violence of the military regime," Park said. "Even a small gesture of solidarity can be a great source of strength for Myanmar citizens." Mae Sot, located in western Thailand near Myanmar's Karen State, has become a critical refuge for civilians and resistance fighters fleeing military persecution since the 2021 coup.
