Human Rights Association Calls for Immediate Release of Thai Nationals Held in Myanmar Scam Compounds

The Human Rights Association (HRA) today calls on the authorities of Myanmar to dismantle without delay the network of online scam compounds operating within its territory in which Thai nationals are being held against their will, subjected to forced labour, torture, and physical coercion, and prevented from leaving. The responsibility for the continued operation of these compounds and the ongoing suffering of Thai nationals held within them lies with Myanmar. Thai nationals are among those most severely and most persistently affected by the scam compoundsystem operating along Myanmar's border with Thailand.

Victims are recruited through false employment offers circulated on social media and messaging platforms, promising high-paying positions in customer service, digital marketing, or online support roles in Thailand or elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Upon accepting these offers, they are transported to the Thai border and trafficked across into Myanmar, where they are forced to work in industrial-scale fraud operations under conditions of constant surveillance, physical violence, and coercion. Those who refuse to participate or attempt to leave are beaten, tortured, and in some cases sold to other criminal operations within the same network.

In March 2025, the Royal Thai Police and Thai embassies facilitated the repatriation of 119 Thai

nationals who had been confirmed as trafficking victims in scam compounds in Myanmar. This

followed the February 2025 release of approximately 7,000 individuals from scam compounds along

the Thai border by ethnic armed organisation security forces, a number that included Thai nationals

among victims from dozens of countries. These repatriations, while welcomed, represent a fraction

of those still at risk. The United Nations estimates that approximately 120,000 people remain

trapped in forced scam labour operations in Myanmar alone. Criminal syndicates displaced by raids

have consistently reconstituted in new locations, and the fundamental conditions enabling

recruitment and forced detention of Thai nationals have not been resolved.

The scam compounds operating in Myawaddy and along Myanmar's border with Thailand are, in the assessment of three United Nations Special Rapporteurs, a humanitarian and human rights crisis.

Their May 2025 statement confirmed that hundreds of thousands of people across the region are

being forced to carry out online fraud in heavily fortified compounds from which independent

escape is effectively impossible. A February 2026 UN report described survivors held in facilities

resembling fortified towns, covering areas in excess of 500 acres, subjected to constant

surveillance, beatings, torture, and coercion. The criminal syndicates most responsible for operating

and financing these compounds have not been prosecuted. Without their arrest and the seizure of their assets, the compounds will continue to operate and Thai nationals will continue to be recruited

into them.

HRA Chairman Saad Kassis-Mohamed stated: “Thai men and women have been promised legitimate

jobs and transported across an international border into fortified compounds where they are forced

to commit fraud under threat of violence. When they refuse or attempt to leave, they are beaten and

sold. The responsibility for this sits entirely with Myanmar. The authorities there have an obligation

under international law to dismantle these operations, to release every Thai national held against

their will, and to ensure that the criminal syndicates running these compounds face justice. Raiding

one compound while others continue to recruit and operate is not a solution. It is the appearance of

one.”

The HRA calls specifically on the Myanmar authorities to dismantle all scam compounds operating

within Myanmar's territory; to release immediately all Thai nationals held against their will, with

priority given to those who have formally requested repatriation assistance from the Royal Thai

Government; to arrest and prosecute the criminal syndicate leaders responsible for operating these

facilities, including through international judicial cooperation; to seize and forfeit their assets; and

to cooperate fully with the Government of Thailand in the rescue and repatriation of all remaining

Thai victims.

The Human Rights Association is an initiative of the WeCare Foundation, Cape Town, active across

Africa, South Asia, and the Gulf region. The HRA works to protect the human rights of individuals

facing unjust detention, denial of medical care, and due process violations, and engages directly

with United Nations mechanisms to advocate on their behalf. For more information, visit wcrfoundation.com/human-rights-association.