People detained in Myanmar after release from scam compounds attempt an escape

BANGKOK — They walked out of the compound in Myanmar not knowing where they would go. Though they were aiming for the river that separated them from Thailand and freedom, they didn't know if they would make it across.

A group of more than 270 some men and women, who were rescued from forced labor in scam compounds two months ago but remain in detention in Myanmar, attempted a mass escape Sunday out of fear that they may end up being sent back to prison-like compounds where they face beatings, torture and potentially even death.

''We will kill ourselves instead of going back to them,'' said one woman, who has been waiting to go home to Ethiopia for more than two months. She came to Myanmar for what she thought was a job in customer service more than a year ago, only to realize she had been trafficked. She was forced to work in online scams targeting people across the world.

Facing pressure from China, Thailand and Myanmar's governments launched a massive operation in February in which they released thousands of trafficked people from scam compounds, working with the ethnic armed groups that rule Myanmar's border areas.

Some 7,200 — overwhelmingly from China — have returned home, according to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but around 1,700 are still stuck in Myanmar, many detained in locked compounds not much different to those they were released from.

That includes this group of 270, most from Ethiopia and other African countries, who attempted to escape after a meeting in which guards suggested they could be returned to scam compounds. Their attempt underscores the ongoing humanitarian situation left by one of the biggest releases of forced laborers in modern history.

Multiple members of the group described the escape attempt to The Associated Press by telephone. All asked not to be identified out of fear of retribution from the armed groups holding them.

Working in the scam compounds means a minimum 12 to 16-hour days of in front of computers where they are forced to contact targets from around the world online and manipulate them into handing over money. Survivors said if they don't meet targets, they are beaten or physically punished in other ways.

Most of the 1,700 people still in Myanmar are being held in army camps or repurposed scam compounds controlled by the Kayin Border Guard Force, an ethnic militia that rules this part of Myanmar.

But the most desperate were a group of 270 held by a neighboring ethnic militia group called the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, which rules an area south of the Border Guard Force.

Non-profit organizations based at the border have been fundraising to help get these men and women home, but as the wait dragged on their embassies told some of them that they were not on Myanmar's official list of people waiting for repatriation. That could stop them from being sent home even if they had plane tickets.

In recent weeks, people from the group said, they saw visitors who appeared to be from the compounds come to talk to the DKBA militia soldiers.

The men and women grew scared, and on Sunday, they took things into their own hands. They all packed up their suitcases and decided to head for the compound's exit. ''We are tired and we want to go,'' said one man. ''There's no proper food. We are sleeping on the floor.''

They walked out slowly in a loose group, pulling all their personal belongings with them. Although they made it out the compound, they were met by soldiers with guns on the street, according to three people who tried to leave and videos of the confrontation viewed by the AP. Eventually, one of the soldiers said they were open to discussion, and the group agreed to turn back.

Kritiya, the activist, said that the DKBA had agreed to send the men and women to Myawaddy, which is under the control of the Kayin Border Guard Force, where they could then be taken to Thailand and then their home countries. The DKBA could not be reached for comment.

Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday it was aware of the escape attempt and the men and women's names were being added to the official repatriation list. Amy Miller, Southeast Asia director at Acts of Mercy International, said her group, alongside an airline and partner groups, had raised enough money for the 270-plus group to go home.

Ethiopia said it had repatriated 130 citizens from an earlier batch and further rounds will begin in the next 10 days, Ambassador Nebiat Getachew, spokesperson of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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