Sai Pan sat in his bus seat, passing through one military checkpoint after another, looking forward to starting his new job in Karen State. As the bus left an unpaved road and joined a smooth new one, he spotted the towering buildings of Shwe Kokko New City in Myawaddy Township rising in the distance.

As he drew closer, Sai Pan’s enthusiasm started to be replaced by apprehension. “I felt gloomy, as though I had stepped into China. Still, I had no other choice, so I went through with it,” he said, referring to the fact that most signs leading into Shwe Kokko are in Chinese.

Sai Pan, 25, is from Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State 413 miles (664 km) north of Myawaddy in Karen State. Before the 2021 military coup he had a stable business selling consumer goods online, but since mid-2023 his business has been in decline. When he was offered a job at Shwe Kokko promising a salary of 15,000 Thai Baht per month, he couldn’t turn it down.

“My business was struggling to make a profit. So, I decided to take the risk, hoping to earn more [money],” he said. Little did Sai Pan know, he would soon be working at a notorious cyber scam operation, called Zhapian in Burmese, inside Shwe Kokko.

When he arrived at the cyber scam operation he was surprised to meet well-educated Burmese people working there, including medical students, engineers, and computer science graduates.

When he realised that he had to scam people Sai Pan did not want to do the work, but he was trapped and had to work because he did not have enough money left to return home. “I deeply regretted coming to Shwe Kokko, but I didn’t even have enough money to return home. So, I had no choice but to keep going, even though I hated the job,” he said.

Sai Pan admitted that he was exhausted by constantly having to deceive innocent people and that the Chinese scam centre bosses exploit and unfairly treated the workers. He estimated that there are about 400 people working in each scam centre. They work in large enclosed halls with poor ventilation and face dismissal or pay cuts if they do not reach targets set for them by their bosses.

If Sai Pan wanted to leave and get another job the only ones available at Shwe Kokko are cyber scamming. So though Sai Pan could switch employment he could not change the type of work.

“I was constantly worried about being fired before getting paid. There was nowhere to complain if I was treated unfairly. In fact, even those who did complain were afraid of being arrested,” he added.

Shwe Kokko is a new city project jointly developed by Saw Chit Thu, the pro-military leader of the Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF/KNA) which rebranded itself as the Karen National Army, and the Hong Kong-registered Yatai International Holdings Group.

Before the 2021 coup, electricity for Shwe Kokko came from Thailand. However, over the last three years, Thai authorities have cut the electricity supply. Despite this, Shwe Kokko continues to operate, relying on generators and solar power.

Shwe Kokko has developed into Myanmar’s gambling and cyber scam hub. Its restricted and opaque environment makes it challenging for outsiders to gain access or leave.

This was an advantage for Khaing, another lured to Shwe Kokko with a high-paying job offer. She participated in the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) when government employees refused to work under the military after the 2021 coup.

Khaing no longer had employment and was persecuted by the military for her actions. A job offer from Shwe Kokko seemed to offer the perfect escape. She could earn good money and stay in an area out of the reach of arrest and persecution.

“My family is constantly worried about my safety. At the same time, I’m the only one my household can rely on for income, and I can’t afford to go abroad for work. In the end, this was the path I chose,” she said.

When Khaing realised she would have to work scamming people she was disgusted but felt unable to escape. She estimated that in her workplace there were about 350 staff overseen by five Chinese-speaking security guards who keep a constant watch over all of them.

She said that each worker has a computer and between two to 10 mobile phones depending on the work assigned to them. They are constantly monitored from behind. Though she works on a computer, Khaing is forbidden from using it for personal browsing or anything not work-related.

“I’ve been here for quite a while, so I’m used to most situations, but I still get nervous every time I see someone else being pulled out in front of me for a mistake,” she said.

Everyday Khaing has to try to entrap strangers into a scam by sending them deceptive messages via WeChat and Telegram messaging apps. She often initiates contact by pretending that she has called or messaged the wrong person before entering into a conversation with them that will often end up with the victim being scammed.

“I have to admit that now, I’ve become quite skillful at fraud. They’ve already provided us with formats to carry out these scams. Since entering this business, no one has the chance to use their real skills or talents. They’ll spend all their time just deceiving others,” she added.

Khaing also admitted to feeling ashamed every time that her mother back home reminds her not to forget her religion. “I always feel ashamed hearing that. If I had the chance, I would like to do a decent job outside, one that gives me dignity. But no one understands my suffering better than I do. In these times of rising prices, it’s very hard for me to give up a well-paying job,” she said.

“As young people, we can’t afford to think about the future. We take these awful jobs with just one goal in mind: to make more money. Our dreams have long since faded,” said Sai Pan.

There has been a huge increase in the number of scam centres since the 2021 coup as the military and their allies are making a lot of money, which is vital as it struggles to obtain foreign currency.

Initially there were many scam centres on the border with China, but the Brotherhood Alliance drove many of the scam centres away from the Chinese border during Operation 1027, which began Oct. 27, 2023.

Many of the scam centre operators from the Myanmar-China border have relocated to the Myanmar-Thailand border, and are now under the protection of the Karen BGF/KNA. Though it issued an order telling all scam centre operators in areas such as Shwe Kokko, Wang Kha, and KK Park to leave Karen State by Sept. 30, the centres have continued operating.

There are still many job adverts luring workers to the scam centres in Shwe Kokko with job ads promising high salaries. Since 2022, foreigners have also been tricked and trafficked to work in Myanmar scam centres. They are subjected to forced labour, torture, and severe human rights abuses. This includes people from Laos, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and China.

On the surface, Shwe Kokko presents itself as a beautiful, sophisticated new city bustling with foreigners, especially Chinese. However, beneath this facade lies a much darker reality—a place where workers are treated as slaves and Myanmar’s youth sacrifice their dreams of a bright future, to be able to support their families.

BNI