Eight Sri Lankans rescued from Myanmar cybercrime camps safely arrive in Thailand
April 11, 2024 03:35 pm
The eight Sri Lankans, who were rescued from the cybercrime camps in Myawaddy area of Myanmar, have safely arrived at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Thailand, Ada Derana learns.
Commenting in this regard, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Thailand, Mr. Janaka Bandara said the rescued people will be repatriated to the island in the coming days.
Out of the 56 Sri Lankans who were trapped in cybercrime camps in Myawaddy, eight were rescued by the Myanmar government authorities in early March and sent to the Myawaddy central police station.
This morning (11), Burmese immigration officials handed the group over to the Thai officials across the Thai–Myanmar Friendship Bridge.
According to Ambassador Bandara, the rescued Sri Lankans are in good health and are currently accommodated at the Sri Lankan embassy in Thailand.
In December 2023, media reports shed light on the plight of a group of nearly 60 Sri Lankans, who were lured with tourist visas behind the false front of lucrative IT sector job offers and are being held captive in Myanmar by a notorious ethnic armed group.
It was understood that they had been duped into applying to job vacancies in Dubai by a certain agent in UAE, only to be trafficked into Myanmar for cyber slavery in Myawaddy where they were forced to commit internet scams.
According to harrowing statements given by the captives, they had been forced to appear as romantic partners to foreigners in order to steal their money. In the event they refuse to do as told, the captives had been subjected to acts of torture, which they said included electrocution, waterboarding in cages, hanging them by their hands and starving.
