Shwe Kokko

Shwe Kokko Myaing (Burmese: ရွှေကုက္ကိုမြိုင်; lit. 'golden raintree forest'), commonly known as Shwe Kokko (Burmese: ရွှေကုက္ကို), is a village in Myawaddy Township in Myawaddy District in the Kayin State of south-east Myanmar. Shwe Kokko lies on the left (western) bank, opposite site of Thailand by the Moei River (Thaungyin River). The village is 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Myawaddy. Shwe Kokko is home to the headquarters of the Kayin Border Guard Force (BGF). As of May 2022, 1,225 Chinese nationals were legally residing in Shwe Kokko, and thousands of illegal Chinese workers migrate to the village for work. Shwe Kokko is a Chinese organized crime hub due to the Burmese government's limited reach and oversight in this border area. Shwe Kokko is the destination of many Asian human trafficking victims (from countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and India ) who have reported being forced to work in Shwe Kokko in Chinese-run online scam operations, lured by the prospect of romance and well-paying jobs. In September 2022, over 300 Indian nationals were reported to be held hostage in Shwe Kokko. From Wikipedia