Overview
- Two Indian Air Force flights evacuated 270 citizens, including 26 women, from Mae Sot after they fled the KK Park compound in Myanmar’s Myawaddy region.
- Thai authorities had detained the Indians for illegal entry, and the Indian Embassy in Bangkok and Consulate in Chiang Mai coordinated the repatriation with Thai agencies.
- Indian investigative agencies will question the returnees on arrival to distinguish trafficking victims from those allegedly involved in scam operations, with legal action possible.
- Thai officials say the mid-October raid on KK Park drove more than 1,500 people from 28 countries into Mae Sot, including about 465 Indian passport holders, and more repatriation flights are expected.
- UN estimates put the annual profits of such industrial-scale scam centers at just under $40 billion, and independent reporting indicates operations in the Myawaddy area continue despite reported demolitions.