JAKARTA: Eighty-four Indonesians returned home overnight on two flights from Thailand, Indonesian officials said Saturday, the latest group of alleged scam workers to be repatriated from the region.
Cyberscam operations, which have thrived in Myanmar鈥檚 lawless border areas for several years, lure foreign workers with promises of high-paying jobs but hold them hostage and force them into committing online fraud.
Under pressure from key ally Beijing, Myanmar has cracked down on some of the compounds, freeing around 7,000 workers from more than two dozen countries.
The 69 Indonesian men and 15 women landed in capital Jakarta after negotiations between Indonesian officials and their Thai and Myanmar counterparts, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affair鈥檚 citizen protection director Judha Nugraha told AFP Saturday.
鈥淭hey will be brought to the Social Affairs Ministry鈥檚 safehouse and trauma center. They will undergo a rehabilitation process,鈥� he said.
Ministry spokesperson Rolliansyah Soemirat also confirmed their return.
The group, which included three pregnant women, were in 鈥済ood condition and healthy鈥� after their evacuation from Myanmar, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
They arrived in Jakarta on two AirAsia flights 鈥� one late Friday and one early Saturday.
The ministry said it had repatriated an early group of 46 Indonesians in February, bringing the total repatriated since last month to 140.
Thousands of Indonesians have been enticed abroad in recent years to other Southeast Asian countries for better-paying jobs, only to end up in the hands of transnational scam operators.
Between 2020 and September last year, Jakarta repatriated more than 4,700 Indonesians entangled in online scam operations from countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, according to foreign ministry data.