JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Indonesian authorities said on Sunday they had released 20 Myanmar citizens who had been trafficked through an online scam, amid a surge in people smuggling cases in Southeast Asia.
The Indonesian embassy in Yangon, with the help of local networks, was able to rescue the victims in the city of Myawaddy and bring them to the Thai border on Saturday, according to a statement by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.
The Indonesian embassy in Bangkok will work closely with Thai authorities to repatriate the victims to Indonesia, the statement said. Myawaddy is in Kayin State, on the border with Thailand, where armed conflict is raging between the Myanmar army and ethnic Karen rebels.
Fake recruiters offered Indonesians high-paying jobs in Thailand but instead took them to Myawaddy, about 567 kilometers (352 miles) south of Naypyidaw, the Burmese capital, to engage in internet scams on cryptocurrency websites or apps, Judha Nugraha said , a member of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The case sparked a scandal in Indonesia after a video taken by one of the victims went viral on social media last month. The footage showed dozens of distressed-looking Indonesian workers at a communal hostel asking their government to help them get out of the “war zone” where they witnessed violence on an almost daily basis.
“Please help us return to Indonesia as our life here is very miserable and threatened,” said one person, describing how they were transferred from one company to another for eight months before being stuck in Myawaddy. The victim said that they were tortured when they failed to meet certain targets at work, and received beatings, electric shocks, and other physical punishments.
Authorities said the victims were likely smuggled into Myanmar illegally as there was no record of their arrival in Myanmar’s immigration system.
The case prompted Indonesian President Joko Widodo to order the foreign ministry to “do whatever it takes” to help rescue the victims. “They were deceived by the traffickers and taken to an undesirable place,” he told a news conference on Thursday.
It was not clear how their release had been achieved, although Sandi Nugroho, a spokesman for the National Police, said negotiations had been held with the company where they worked.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a news conference on Friday that the government is also working to help victims of fraud in Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines.
Philippine authorities have rescued more than 1,000 human trafficking victims from 10 countries, including 143 Indonesians who will be repatriated to their countries of origin, the minister said, citing a report by the Indonesian embassy in Manila on Friday.
“As ASEAN leader this year, Indonesia intends to raise this issue at the 42nd ASEAN Summit,” Marsudi added.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Indonesia is hosting the Group Leaders’ Summit on May 10-11 in Labuan Bajo on the island of Flores.