This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
More than 800 Chinese citizens were deported from near Myanmar’s border with Thailand in relation to website forgery, according to China’s Ministry of Public Security.
The party was deported Wednesday from Myawaddy’s renowned playing and con center, Shwe Kokko, in Myanmar’s Kayin status through neighboring Thailand, the ministry said in a , statement , on Wednesday.
Fraud centers have  , plagued the border , places of Thailand, Myanmar and China as citizens from all three countries are tricked into – and immediately enslaved in – online scams. In 2023, junta and rebel army officials deported tens of thousands of Chinese nationals from Myanmar for their roles in both perpetuating and preventing criminal acts. Many are connected to the proliferation of money laundering, human trafficking, and forced labor after COVID-19 shut down casinos in Southeast Asia.
A Myawaddy resident claimed that the gambling industry should be shut down.
” The]Chinese nationals ] have been repatriated through Thailand as they were illegally staying in Shwe Kokko. They kept saying that ]authorities ] are continuously sending them back”, he said, declining to be named given the issue’s sensitivity.  ,
” There are still gambling businesses in Myawaddy. The city center’s gambling industry was largely abandoned, and many smaller ones started popping up. They are still there”.
In an effort to combat transnational communication network fraud and online gambling, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security has been working with Myanmar and Thai authorities along the border since March 2023. According to the statement, the 800 Chinese nationals were connected to an online money-laundering gang.
RFA was unable to confirm the details of the repatriation. The arrests were a result of the long- term trilateral cooperation between China, Myanmar and Thailand, it continued.
According to Myanmar junta- backed media, 52, 820 foreigners, including 50, 772 Chinese nationals, were repatriated from Oct. 5, 2023, to March 6, 2024.
