YANGON: A Myanmar ethnic militia said on Saturday it was preparing to deport 10,000 people linked to cyber scams in the area it controls to Thailand as part of a crackdown on the illicit compounds.

Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar`s borderlands and are staffed by foreigners who are often trafficked and forced to work, swindling people around the world in an industry analysts say is worth billions of dollars. `We have announced to get rid of all scams from our soil. We are now implementing it,` Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) spokesman Major Naing Maung Zaw said on Saturday. `We have made a list and are prepared to transfer about 10,000 people (to Thailand),` he said.

The deportations would be carried out in groups of 500 per day. The BGF has already sent 61 people across a border bridge to Thailand and are preparing to hand over `about 500 people including many different nationalities` daily, Naing Maung Zaw said.

The military task force responsible for border security in Thailand`s Tak province has coordinated with BGF leaders to receive 7,000 workers from scam compounds, Thai media reported on Saturday.

BGF soldiers patrolled workplaces at Shwe Kokko in Myanmar`s eastern Myawaddy township on Friday as part of a crackdown on alleged human trafficking, an agency`s stringer saw.

Shwe Kokko, a scam compound located in an area under BGF control in Karen state, is a built-up city that stands out among the surrounding agricultural fields.

Cyber scam compounds often lure people from around the globe with promises of high-paying jobs but then effectively hold them hostage and force them to commit online fraud or face severe punishment.-AFPYANGON: A Myanmar ethnic militia said on Saturday it was preparing to deport 10,000 people linked to cyber scams in the area it controls to Thailand as part of a crackdown on the illicit compounds.

Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar`s borderlands and are staffed by foreigners who are often trafficked and forced to work, swindling people around the world in an industry analysts say is worth billions of dollars. `We have announced to get rid of all scams from our soil. We are now implementing it,` Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) spokesman Major Naing Maung Zaw said on Saturday. `We have made a list and are prepared to transfer about 10,000 people (to Thailand),` he said.

The deportations would be carried out in groups of 500 per day. The BGF has already sent 61 people across a border bridge to Thailand and are preparing to hand over `about 500 people including many different nationalities` daily, Naing Maung Zaw said.

The military task force responsible for border security in Thailand`s Tak province has coordinated with BGF leaders to receive 7,000 workers from scam compounds, Thai media reported on Saturday.

BGF soldiers patrolled workplaces at Shwe Kokko in Myanmar`s eastern Myawaddy township on Friday as part of a crackdown on alleged human trafficking, an agency`s stringer saw.

Shwe Kokko, a scam compound located in an area under BGF control in Karen state, is a built-up city that stands out among the surrounding agricultural fields.

Cyber scam compounds often lure people from around the globe with promises of high-paying jobs but then effectively hold them hostage and force them to commit online fraud or face severe punishment.-AFP