Myanmar ethnic militia repatriates Chinese nationals suspected of cybercrime

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.

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, said on Saturday.

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.

Wa liaison officer Nyi Rang said that the online fraud operations aren't allowed in the territory administered by the UWSA and its political arm, the United Wa State Party, and similar arrests had been made previously.

The UWSA’s online media outlet, WSTV, said on Friday on its Facebook account that a total of 1,207 Chinese nationals who were arrested by the Wa state police for online fraud were handed over to the Chinese police.

China’s state Xinhua news agency, citing Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security, reported the same figure of those turned over Wednesday, and said they included 41 fugitives from justice.

Growing problem

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 UN 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 Kokang Self-Administered Zone, and the Wa-administered city of Mong La in Shan state on the Chinese border.

Shwe Kokko, a small town in northern part of Kayin state’s Myawaddy township, is notorious for casino complexes that allegedly host major organised crime operations, including online scamming, gambling and human trafficking.

The complexes were developed by Chinese investors in cooperation with the local Border Guard Forces, which are militias affiliated with Myanmar’s army.