People detained in Myanmar after release from scam compounds attempt an escape

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People detained in Myanmar after release from scam compounds attempt an escape

2025-04-15 17:32 Last Updated At：17:51

BANGKOK (AP) — They walked out of the compound in Myanmar not knowing where they would go. Though they were aiming for the river that separated them from Thailand and freedom, they didn't know if they would make it across.

A group of more than 270 some men and women, who were rescued from forced labor in scam compounds two months ago but remain in detention in Myanmar, attempted a mass escape Sunday out of fear that they may end up being sent back to prison-like compounds where they face beatings, torture and potentially even death.

“We will kill ourselves instead of going back to them,” said one woman, who has been waiting to go home to Ethiopia for more than two months. She came to Myanmar for what she thought was a job in customer service more than a year ago, only to realize she had been trafficked. She was forced to work in online scams targeting people across the world.

Facing pressure from China, Thailand and Myanmar’s governments launched a massive operation in February in which they released thousands of trafficked people from scam compounds, working with the ethnic armed groups that rule Myanmar's border areas.

Some 7,200 — overwhelmingly from China — have returned home, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but around 1,700 are still stuck in Myanmar, many detained in locked compounds not much different to those they were released from.

That includes this group of 270, most from Ethiopia and other African countries, who attempted to escape after a meeting in which guards suggested they could be returned to scam compounds. Their attempt underscores the ongoing humanitarian situation left by one of the biggest releases of forced laborers in modern history.

Multiple members of the group described the escape attempt to The Associated Press by telephone. All asked not to be identified out of fear of retribution from the armed groups holding them.

“The delay in assistance has caused severe physical and psychological suffering,” said Jay Kritiya in a statement, the coordinator of the Civil Society Network for Victim Assistance in Human Trafficking, an alliance of groups, who assists people who had been trafficked into scam compounds.

Working in the scam compounds means a minimum 12 to 16-hour days of in front of computers where they are forced to contact targets from around the world online and manipulate them into handing over money. Survivors said if they don’t meet targets, they are beaten or physically punished in other ways.

Most of the 1,700 people still in Myanmar are being held in army camps or repurposed scam compounds controlled by the Kayin Border Guard Force, an ethnic militia that rules this part of Myanmar.

But the most desperate were a group of 270 held by a neighboring ethnic militia group called the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army, which rules an area south of the Border Guard Force.

Non-profit organizations based at the border have been fundraising to help get these men and women home, but as the wait dragged on their embassies told some of them that they were not on Myanmar’s official list of people waiting for repatriation. That could stop them from being sent home even if they had plane tickets.

In recent weeks, people from the group said, they saw visitors who appeared to be from the compounds come to talk to the DKBA militia soldiers.

After one of these meetings, the DKBA soldiers came to the detained people and offered them a chance to go back to the compounds. They told them: “Whoever wants to go back to work, can go back easily,” said one man. “There will not be punishment. There will be (a) salary."

The men and women grew scared, and on Sunday, they took things into their own hands. They all packed up their suitcases and decided to head for the compound's exit. “We are tired and we want to go,” said one man. “There's no proper food. We are sleeping on the floor.”

They walked out slowly in a loose group, pulling all their personal belongings with them. Although they made it out the compound, they were met by soldiers with guns on the street, according to three people who tried to leave and videos of the confrontation viewed by the AP. Eventually, one of the soldiers said they were open to discussion, and the group agreed to turn back.

Kritiya, the activist, said that the DKBA had agreed to send the men and women to Myawaddy, which is under the control of the Kayin Border Guard Force, where they could then be taken to Thailand and then their home countries. The DKBA could not be reached for comment.

Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday it was aware of the escape attempt and the men and women's names were being added to the official repatriation list. Amy Miller, Southeast Asia director at Acts of Mercy International, said her group, alongside an airline and partner groups, had raised enough money for the 270-plus group to go home.

Ethiopia said it had repatriated 130 citizens from an earlier batch and further rounds will begin in the next 10 days, Ambassador Nebiat Getachew, spokesperson of the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For now, the men and women are waiting. “It's really, really hard to trust,” said one man. “You're not 100% sure it will happen.”

AP writer Samuel Getachew contributed to this report from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

James Harden scores 28 points and Clippers force Game 7 with a gritty 111-105 win over Nuggets

2025-05-02 14:04 Last Updated At：14:12

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — With the Los Angeles Clippers' season on the brink, Tyronn Lue took the unusual step of checking in with several players by phone on their off day. The coach said he “took a lot of temperatures,” making sure they were mentally ready to fight for their playoff lives.

In Game 6, the Clippers answered his call.

James Harden had 28 points and eight assists in an outstanding bounce-back performance, Kawhi Leonard added 27 points and the Clippers forced a seventh game in their first-round NBA playoff series with a 111-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night.

Norman Powell scored 24 points for the Clippers, who rebounded from back-to-back losses with an impressive effort at new Intuit Dome. Los Angeles took control in the second half while playing tenacious defense on Nikola Jokic, who scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half.

“I give our guys credit for just staying with it,” Lue said. “(They) don’t get deflated, and we did a good job. ... I told the guys after the game, it’s about being a team and whatever it takes to win. Those guys totally understood it.”

Game 7 is Saturday in Denver.

Jamal Murray scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who lost a potential series-clinching playoff game for the fourth time in five tries over the past two seasons since their 2023 championship run. Denver also blew a 3-2 series lead over Minnesota in the second round last season.

The Nuggets haven’t won a Game 7 since 2020, when they ousted the Clippers from the conference semifinals in the Florida bubble.

“They were quicker to the punch,” Murray said. “They played with a lot more desperation because their backs were against the wall, and you’ve got to give them credit. The whole game, they brought it.”

The Clippers were pushed to this comeback win by the 35-year-old Harden, who played aggressively and craftily after receiving criticism for a passive effort in Game 5. Leonard also stepped up, with the two-time NBA champion adding 10 rebounds and five assists in an assertive outing.

“It was win or go home, so there were opportunities to be aggressive, and I took them,” Harden said. “One more game. ... We didn't want to go home. We've got one more game left.”

Ivica Zubac and Nicolas Batum teamed up for a surprisingly effective defensive effort on the typically unguardable Jokic. The three-time MVP was held scoreless for 11 minutes in the third quarter and went only 2 for 9 in the second half.

Los Angeles led by 15 with less than six minutes to play, but Denver made an 11-2 run to trim the Clippers’ lead to 107-101 before Powell buried a 3-pointer with 1:47 left.

Powell’s clutch bucket was Los Angeles’ only field goal in the final 5:57, but the Clips hung on with defense. Russell Westbrook missed a layup under pressure and had another layup blocked on consecutive possessions in the final minutes, and Zubac blocked a layup attempt by Jokic with 24 seconds left.

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