BANGKOK: Thai authorities have received 61 foreign nationals, including over a dozen Indians, believed to be victims of human trafficking and scam operations in Myanmar, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said.
The rescued individuals included 39 Chinese nationals, 13 Indians, five Indonesians and one each from Ethiopia, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan, Phumtham said during his oversight of the handover at the Mae Sot border checkpoint in Thailand's Tak province.
Upon arrival, the rescued individuals were immediately placed under the care of relevant agencies and will go through a screening process to determine their status as trafficking victims and assess any potential involvement in criminal activities, he added.
The Myanmar government remains committed to collaborating with neighbouring countries and international agencies to root out online scams and gambling networks, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the Myanmar News Agency.
Efforts to gather information from local and regional sources are being strengthened with an emphasis on swift communication of any relevant intelligence. This comprehensive approach aims to eliminate these criminal activities and ensure national security, said the report.
According to the World Health Organisation, human trafficking is a global problem and one of the world's most shameful crimes, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world and robbing them of their dignity. Traffickers deceive women, men and children from all corners of the world and force them into exploitative situations every day. While the best-known form of human trafficking is for the purpose of sexual exploitation, hundreds of thousands of victims are trafficked for the purposes of forced labour, domestic servitude, child begging or the removal of their organs.
Nearly every country in the world is affected by human trafficking, as a point of origin, transit or destination, and victims from at least 127 countries have been reported to have been exploited in 137 states.
Globally, one in five victims of human trafficking are children, although in poorer regions and subregions, such as Africa and Greater Mekong, they make up the majority of trafficked persons. Women meanwhile make up two-thirds of the world's human trafficking victims.