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Democratic Karen Benevolent Army hands over 261 trafficking victims from 19 countries to Thailand

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Human trafficking victims from cyber scam centers in Myanmar entered Thailand on Feb. 12. (Credit: Thai News Pix)

The Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) handed over 261 foreigners from 19 countries, who were trafficked into Myanmar to work at cyber scam centers in Karen State, to the Thai army on Wednesday. 

The DKBA dismissed allegations of human trafficking into cyber scam centers in Payathonzu town, also known as Three Pagodas Pass, in Kyain Seikgyi Township of Karen State on Monday. Payathonzu is located 143 miles (230 km) south of the state capital Hpa-An and next to Nong Lu in Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand.

It issued a notice on Sunday instructing Chinese nationals “illegally” residing and working in DKBA-controlled territory to leave by Feb. 28. 

“I have not seen any Kokang Chinese nationals involved in scam activities in Payathonzu. Some arrived after the battles in Laukkai and Lashio. These people are known for their involvement in gambling activities,” Saw Ae Wang, a DKBA tactical commander, told DVB. 

Over half the 261 foreigners released into Thailand by the DKBA on Feb. 12 are reportedly from countries in Africa or Asia. The Thai authorities are currently assessing whether they were, in fact, human trafficking victims.  

“Thai people always come to China and feel at home, so I hope that Chinese people can come to Thailand and feel at home as well,” Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra told China Daily during a visit to Beijing last Thursday. 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) stated that over 6.3 million Chinese tourists had visited Thailand this year up to Dec. 8, making China the largest source of visitors.

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra pledged to dismantle scam centers along the Thailand-Myanmar border during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week.

“The problem will not end unless its root cause is tackled,” said former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s father and the de facto leader of her ruling Pheu Thai Party. “If the scammers are booted out of the country, we will resume the supply of electricity and internet signals,” he added.

Bangkok cut power and fuel imports to Karen State’s Shwe Kokko and Payathonzu, as well as Shan State’s Tachilek on Feb. 5. 

The DKBA is not the only ethnic armed group accused of human trafficking into cyber scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border. The Karen State Border Guard Force (BGF) is also accused of human trafficking and forced labour at cyber scam centers located in BGF-controlled areas, which includes the casino complex of Shwe Kokko. 

Prosecutors from Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Human Trafficking Crime Bureau have requested arrest warrants for the BGF leaders, including Saw Chit Thu, Saw Mote Thone and Saw Tin Win.

“The people who came here didn’t just fall from the sky; they were mainly individuals who traveled through Thailand,” Saw Chit Thu told DVB in an interview this week. 

“I’ve been at the Thailand-Myanmar border for over 30 years. I’ve helped Thailand many times before. If they want to arrest me, I want to know under which laws they intend to do so,” he asked.

Thai media reported that the DSI received evidence from an Indian national who was rescued after being trafficked and forced to work at a cyber scam center in Myawaddy Township of Karen State.

Prosecutors have advised the DSI to gather additional evidence. Mywaddy is located 80 miles (128 km) east of Hpa-An and is next to Mae Sot in Tak Province of Thailand.

The Royal Thai Police (RTP) announced on Wednesday the formation of a committee to investigate five senior Thai police officers who were transferred from Tak Province, which is located along the Thai-Myanmar border, to Bangkok for alleged links to human trafficking into cyber scam centers in Myawaddy from Mae Sot. 

Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has rejected accusations from the regime in Naypyidaw that “other countries” – a veiled reference to Thailand – is to blame for the proliferation of cyber scam centres along the 1,501 mile (2,416 km) long border. 

He stated on Wednesday that BGF leader Saw Chit Thu will be arrested if he enters Thailand. The Thai government does not seem to be pursuing arrest warrants for DKBA leaders.

Argentine court issues arrest warrants for 22 Myanmar military leaders including Min Aung Hlaing

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Rohingya cross the border from Myanmar into a village in southern Bangladesh to seek refuge in October 2017. (Credit: UNHCR)

On Thursday, a court in Buenos Aires, Argentina issued arrest warrants for 25 Myanmar military and state officials, including jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, former President Htin Kyaw, regime leader Min Aung Hlaing, and his deputy Soe Win, on accusations of genocide against the Rohingya in a case launched by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction.

“This is a historic step towards justice for [the] Rohingya and everyone in Burma suffering under the Burmese military,” said Tun Khin, the BROUK president. “This brings a ray of hope to Rohingya who have suffered through decades of genocide, watching their families and culture be destroyed with impunity.”

The case, opened in 2021, is based on a 2019 petition by BROUK which examines the role of Myanmar’s military leaders in genocide and crimes against humanity in a Rohingya village located in Rathedaung Township of northern Arakan (Rakhine) State, on Aug. 27, 2017. Rathedaung is located 44 miles (70 km) north of the Arakan State capital Sittwe.

Later, six Rohingya women survivors joined the case as formal parties. Under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, victims can pursue justice and countries can prosecute people for serious crimes which harm the international community, regardless of where it was committed. 

Five residents of Myanmar’s Chinland (Chin State) – displaced from their homes due to the conflict since the 2021 military coup – filed a criminal complaint with the Department of Justice in the Philippines in October 2023. 

With legal representation and support from the Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP), the five Myanmar nationals requested an investigation into 10 regime officials, including Min Aung Hlaing, for their alleged involvement in an attack on Thantlang Township in September 2021. Thantlang is located 22 miles (35 km) west of the Chinland capital Hakha.

“The Philippines is an overwhelmingly Christian country. So we encouraged a case [of a crime committed by the Myanmar military] against a Christian community,” Chris Gunness, the MAP director, told DVB. He added that the five complainants held a press conference in Manila to address the alleged war crimes committed by the military.

Even though the Philippines’ prosecutor refused to accept the case, Gunness said that MAP would appeal to the Supreme Court of the Philippines and pursue similar cases in regional countries such as Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan requested an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing in November for alleged crimes against humanity for the forced deportation of Rohingya to Bangladesh during the 2016-2017 military crackdown in northern Arakan. 

A 2019 genocide case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the U.N. high court, is underway. The regime has not followed the ICJ provisional measures to prevent genocide against the Rohingya and preserve evidence.

Rather, it has forcefully conscripted Rohingya men into military service to assist in its fight against the Arakan Army (AA), which has seized control of 14 out of 17 townships in Arakan from the regime in Naypyidaw.

*This story was updated on Feb. 15

David Mathieson on 4 years since the Myanmar military coup (Part 2) – [AUDIO]

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This is part two of the DVB Newsroom interview with David Mathieson, an independent analyst on human rights and conflict in Myanmar. In it, he discusses the situation in Myanmar four years after the 2021 military coup.

We recorded this interview before China brokered a ceasefire agreement between the regime in Naypyidaw and the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on Jan. 18.

Business owners express concern over wages paid to conscripts

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Regime officials and military personnel welcome new conscripts to the nith intake at a military training school in an undisclosed location on Jan. 20. (Credit: Regime media)

Some business owners in Myanmar told DVB that they are concerned over new requirements in the military conscription law that requires them to continue paying wages to their employees who’ve been conscripted into the military. 

The regime issued stricter guidelines regarding conscription on Jan. 23. The conscription law was enacted on Feb. 10, 2024. It stipulates that men aged 18 to 35 who are conscripted must serve two years, but it goes up to five years in a state of emergency, which Myanmar has been under since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. 

“[The law] is essentially a licence to exploit young people as forced labour on the frontlines,” Aung Myo Min, the National Unity Government (NUG) Minister of Human Rights, told DVB. 

He accused the military of using conscripts essentially as cannon fodder. The NUG Ministry of Human Rights stated that 23,799 people have been conscripted into the military, including 80 women and 28 children, since last April when the first intake began.

“Employers are struggling and employees don’t know where or how to claim their entitlements. The law doesn’t clearly outline the process, leaving room for arbitrary decisions,” a lawyer from Myanmar told DVB on the condition of anonymity.

The new conscription guidelines state that when an employee of a company is conscripted into military service, the employer must handle wage payments in accordance with “ministerial orders and directives.”

After completing military service, the employee should be reinstated to their original position or an equivalent role. The exact amount to be paid or the duration for which wages must be provided were not specified. 

Professionals such as doctors or engineers can be conscripted into military service up to age 45 under the law. Under its new guidelines, the regime also ordered those selected for military conscription to be barred from leaving the country without authorization.

A business owner told DVB on the condition of anonymity that due to Myanmar’s deteriorating economy since 2021 and with rising inflation, employers are unable to pay the wages of their employees who are conscripted into the military.

“No employer can afford to keep paying salaries indefinitely. The only option is to let the worker go,” he said.

Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said that Naypyidaw plans to recruit 5,000 conscripts per month, which began last April after the Thingyan festival. 

On Feb. 7, he added that the regime still has no plans to conscript women even though the conscription law stipulates that females aged 18 to 27 must serve 2-5 years depending on the state of emergency.

A Q&A with Karen State Border Guard Force leader Saw Chit Thu

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Saw Chit Thu, the Karen Border Guard Force leader, has been sanctioned by the U.K. for links to human trafficking and forced labour in cyber scam operations run out of the BGF-controlled casino complex at Shwe Kokko, Karen State. (Credit: KIC)

Prosecutors from Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) Human Trafficking Crime Bureau have requested arrest warrants for three Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) leaders, Saw Chit Thu, Saw Mote Thone and Saw Tin Win. 

The three are accused of human trafficking into cyber scam centers in BGF-controlled areas of Myawaddy Township, Karen State, located along the Myanmar-Thai border opposite Mae Sot, Tak Province of Thailand.

Thai prosecutors have advised the DSI to gather additional evidence. Media in Bangkok reported that the DSI received evidence from an Indian national who was rescued after being trafficked and forced to work at a cyber scam center in Myawaddy. 

Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai stated on Wednesday that BGF leader Saw Chit Thu would be arrested if he entered Thailand. DVB interviewed Saw Chit Thu to get his response to these accusations.

DVB: Saw Chit Thu, how do you respond to Thailand’s request for arrest warrants for you and the two other BGF leaders?

SCT: Is there anything I’ve done wrong to Thai people or Thailand? Regarding the businesses in Myanmar’s Myawaddy Township—such as cyber scam operations and human trafficking—we didn’t bring anyone in. The people who came here didn’t just fall from the sky; they were mainly individuals who traveled through Thailand.

Thai authorities see me as guilty. What I want to say to those officials in Thailand to know is that I’ve been at the Thailand-Myanmar border for over 30 years. I’ve helped Thailand many times before. If they want to arrest me, I want to know under which laws they intend to do so.

DVB: Reports state that you are connected to human trafficking into cyber scam centers [and forced labour inside them]. Are you?

SCT: We have received numerous letters from countries like India, the Philippines, Japan, and others, reporting their citizens who have been trafficked, and we have returned them. I have full documentation. We didn’t formally return them across the [Thai-Myanmar Friendship border] bridge, but we did hand them over to the relevant embassies. 

I have a letter of gratitude from India. We’ve sent back Chinese citizens, too. Many embassies informed us of the safe return of their citizens. We handed some to the Thai military. Even today, we’re in the process of returning 60 more people. We are soon forming a special task force to crackdown on human trafficking and scam centers. 

We will make sure not one person remains. These people have tarnished the name of our country while engaging in unethical business practices, and we have borne the brunt of their actions. We only provided land for rent, yet our name has been stained. They are not even our citizens.

DVB: Are Thai citizens among those people you are going to send home [from cyber scam centers]?

SCT: Today, it’s mostly Indonesians.

DVB: If Thailand’s DSI proceeds with its plan to issue an arrest warrant for you, what will you do?

SCT: If human trafficking is truly connected to us, then let’s address it. But what I want to ask is: Who is bringing those people here? For the people who have arrived in Shwe Kokko, Myawaddy—who sent them here? And where did they come from? That is the question I want to ask.

DVB: According to the information that we’ve received, it seems that the Thai government is coordinating with Myanmar to carry out arrests. Are you worried about this?

SCT: If they plan to issue arrest warrants in cooperation with Thailand, then the [regime in Naypyidaw] and the BGF will have an official problem. If [the military] no longer recognizes us as the BGF and decides to disband us, we will stand independently on our own.

DVB: So, how will you address the scam centers operating within BGF-controlled territory in Myawaddy?

SCT: Since November, we have warned them to return to where they came from. We are in the process of making good on this warning. Many media outlets have contacted me, but I have not spoken to them yet because I want to prove myself with action and not only words.

DVB: Can we understand from your statements that you are working to eradicate scam centers in BGF-controlled territories, including Shwe Kokko?

SCT: Yes, that’s correct. It must be eradicated. We are monitoring this closely. In the coming days, I will be organizing teams to tackle these issues. We have already notified the military commanders and made arrangements. We will arrest thousands and send them back via the [Thai-Myanmar Friendship border] bridge officially. 

DVB: Do you have anything else you would like to add?

SCTr: I have lived along the Thai-Myanmar border for over 30 years and helped Thailand many times. I want to know why they are accusing me and under which laws they plan to arrest me. I also want to know who is sending these people into Myawaddy and how they are entering. 

We have official permission to run development projects in the Shwe Kokko area from the previous government, but we are still being blamed for illegal activities. I will prove through my actions, not just words. I ask you to watch closely over the next few days.

DVB: Thank you for your time.

David Mathieson on 4 years since the Myanmar military coup (Pt 2)

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English Editor
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David Mathieson joined DVB Newsroom to discuss the situation in Myanmar four years after the 2021 military coup on Jan. 16. (Credit: DVB)

This is part two of the DVB Newsroom interview with David Mathieson, an independent analyst on human rights and conflict in Myanmar. In it, he discusses the situation in Myanmar four years after the 2021 military coup. We recorded this interview before China brokered a ceasefire agreement between the regime in Naypyidaw and the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on Jan. 18.

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