JAKARTA: Indonesia on Tuesday began repatriating more than 500 of its nationals freed from online scam centers in Myanmar, officials said, bringing them home from an ordeal where they suffered violence and threats.
Cyberscam operations, which have thrived in Myanmar’s lawless border areas for several years, lure foreign workers with promises of high-paying jobs but hold them hostage and force them to commit online fraud.
Around 7,000 workers from at least two dozen countries have been freed in recent weeks, the majority of them Chinese, but many have been languishing in squalid temporary holding camps on the border between Myanmar and Thailand.
Four-hundred Indonesians were returning from Thailand on Tuesday and at least 154 would follow on Wednesday, according to Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan.
“The Indonesian government cooperated with the Thailand government and the Chinese government for rescuing and repatriating 554 Indonesians,” he told a press conference at the international airport in capital Jakarta.
The group included 449 men and 105 women who became “victims of large-scale online scamming” in the town of Myawaddy near the Thai border, said Budi.
“The victims... experienced various pressures, physical violence, such as beatings and electrocution, and lastly were threatened with their organs being removed,” he said.
Judha Nugraha, the director of citizen protection at Indonesia’s foreign ministry, earlier said that “around 161” nationals would return Wednesday.
The Indonesians were coming back on three flights from Bangkok after crossing into Thailand from Myanmar, officials said.
The first flight carrying 200 freed Indonesians landed on Tuesday morning.
Judha said the discrepancy in numbers was due to authorities “still processing” the second group, adding final numbers would be released on Wednesday after their transfer was complete.
Indonesian authorities already repatriated 140 nationals from Myanmar via Thailand last month.
Authorities in Myanmar, under pressure from ally China, have cracked down on the scam compounds.
Between 2020 and September last year, Jakarta repatriated more than 4,700 Indonesians entangled in online scam operations from countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, according to foreign ministry data.
The United Nations estimates that as many as 120,000 people – many of them Chinese men – may be working in Myanmar scam centers against their will.
Indonesia begins repatriating more than 500 freed Myanmar scam center workers
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Indonesia begins repatriating more than 500 freed Myanmar scam center workers
- Cyberscam operations lure foreign workers with promises of high-paying jobs but hold them hostage and force them to commit online fraud
- Around 7,000 workers from at least two dozen countries have been freed in recent weeks, the majority of them Chinese
UK accuses Israel of breaking international law in Gaza
- Accusation is first of its kind from Britain since war broke out
- Foreign Secretary David Lammy: ‘Lack of aid unacceptable, hugely alarming’
LONDON: UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Monday night said Israel had committed “a breach of international law” after it prevented aid from reaching Gaza over the past fortnight.
“Israel quite rightly must defend its own security. But we find the lack of aid — it’s now been 15 days since aid got into Gaza — unacceptable, hugely alarming and very worrying,” he said.
“We would urge Israel to get back to the amount of trucks we were seeing — way beyond 600 — so Palestinians can get the necessary humanitarian support that they need at this time.”
It is the first time since the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, that the UK has explicitly accused Israel of breaking international law.
Lammy previously said Israel had “no excuse” for withholding humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, and last year suspended 30 arms export licenses to the country over concerns that they could be used to breach international law.
He also said the UK would cooperate “100 percent” with the International Criminal Court in November after it issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Police evict hundreds of migrants who had been squatting in Paris theater
- Officers began their operation shortly before 6 a.m. at the Gaite Lyrique theater
- The migrants had occupied the concert and arts venue as part of their demands for shelter
PARIS: French police evicted more than 400 migrants on Tuesday who had been squatting inside the Gaite Lyrique theater in central Paris for more than three months.
Officers began their operation shortly before 6 a.m. (0500 GMT) at the theater, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered to protest against the eviction.
Since December 10, the migrants, including many unaccompanied minors, had occupied the concert and arts venue as part of their demands for shelter, leading the Gaite Lyrique management to suspend its operations on December 17.
A large banner on the Gaite Lyrique read: “400 lives at risk, 80 jobs under threat.”
“Shame, shame, shame to authorities who are at war with isolated minors,” demonstrators chanted in front of the theater in solidarity with the migrants, urging local authorities to provide sustainable housing to them rather than force them out.
Police briefly used tear gas at the start of their operation, but overall the evacuation proceeded without any major incidents or clashes.
“We had nowhere to go, we needed a shelter during the cold winter nights. So we had no choice but to occupy the Gaite Lyrique,” said Dialo Aimmedou, who said he was 16 and arrived in France in October 2024.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told France Inter radio on Tuesday that the evacuation had to be done, and that emergency housing had been offered to the migrants.
“At this stage this was the thing to do because the situation was becoming complicated, tense and dangerous inside,” she said.
South Korea tightens security for opposition leader over suspected plot, Yonhap reports
- Move comes after the Democratic Party had last week urged police to ramp up security for Lee Jae-myung
- Some main opposition party lawmakers were tipped off about an assassination plot targeting Lee
SEOUL: South Korean police started on Tuesday providing additional security for the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, after lawmakers had warned of a potential assassination plot targeting Lee Jae-myung, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
The move comes after the party had last week urged police to ramp up security for Lee after some of its lawmakers said they were tipped off about an assassination plot against him.
Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In January last year, Lee was stabbed in the neck by a man who lunged at him with a knife after asking for his autograph.
The man was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to media reports.
Tensions have been running high in South Korea since President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly imposed martial law last December, triggering the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
His martial law imposition and its fallout have widened deep social rifts between conservatives and liberals and put pressure on institutions.
Yoon faces a criminal trial on charges of insurrection, while the Constitutional Court is also expected to rule in coming days on whether to uphold his impeachment and permanently strip him of his powers.
Police have been preparing for the risk of clashes, with both Yoon’s supporters and his opponents are due to hold large rallies when the court makes its decision.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok repeated on Tuesday a call for citizens to accept and respect the court’s ruling.
Hundreds of Yoon supporters stormed a court building in January after his detention was extended, smashing windows and other items, an attack the acting leader called “unimaginable.”
Bangladesh rebukes US spy chief over religious violence remarks
- Washington’s intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard arrived this week for a diplomatic trip to India
- New Delhi has repeatedly accused its Muslim-majority neighbor of failing to adequately protect its minority Hindu citizens
DHAKA: Bangladesh has rebuked Washington’s intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard, saying her comments on religious violence in the South Asian country were unfounded and risked fanning sectarian tensions.
Gabbard arrived this week for a diplomatic trip to India, whose relations with Bangladesh have soured since a student-led uprising overthrew the latter nation’s government last year.
New Delhi has repeatedly accused its Muslim-majority neighbor of failing to adequately protect its minority Hindu citizens – charges denied by the caretaker administration now in charge.
But Gabbard appeared to give credence to the claims when she was asked about violence in Bangladesh during a Monday interview with Indian broadcaster NDTV.
“The long-time unfortunate persecution, killing, and abuse of religious minorities... have been a major area of concern for the US government,” she said in response.
She added that the issue, along with Islamist extremism, remained “central focus areas of concern” and said the Trump administration has already raised them with the Bangladeshi government.
Bangladesh responded in a statement late Monday that Gabbard’s comments were both “misleading” and “damaging” to the country’s image and reputation.
“Political leaders and public figures should base their statements, especially on sensitive issues, on actual knowledge and take care not to reinforce harmful stereotypes, fan fears, or potentially stoke sectarian tensions,” the statement said.
Hindus make up about eight percent of Bangladesh’s 170 million people.
In the chaotic days following the August ouster of autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina, there was a string of attacks on Hindus – seen by some as having backed her rule.
The caretaker government that replaced her has insisted that many of those attacks were motivated by politics rather than religion.
It has also accused India’s media and government of spreading disinformation exaggerating threats to Bangladeshi Hindus.
Gabbard met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington last month soon after her confirmation as director of national intelligence under President Donald Trump.
The pair met again on Monday and Gabbard used a speech to a geopolitical conference in New Delhi to praise the enduring partnership between the United States and India.
“I am confident that this partnership and friendship between our two nations and our leaders will continue to grow and strengthen,” she added.
India orders curfew after violence over tomb of 17th-century Muslim ruler
- Violence in the central Indian city of Nagpur damaged many vehicles and injured several people
- Situation escalated after several members of Muslim groups marched near a police station and threw stones at police
MUMBAI: Authorities clamped indefinite curfew on parts of the Indian city of Nagpur after more than a dozen police officers were hurt in clashes sparked by a Hindu group’s demand for the removal of the tomb of a 17th-century Mughal ruler, police said on Tuesday.
Monday’s violence in the central Indian city damaged many vehicles and injured several people, among them at least 15 police personnel, one of whom was in serious condition, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, where the city is located, criticized the violence in a video message, calling for every effort to maintain law and order.
“I have told the police commissioner to take whatever strict steps are necessary,” Fadnavis added.
Police said in a statement that members of the group, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), burnt an effigy of the Emperor Aurangzeb and his tomb as they chanted slogans demanding its removal from the nearby city of Aurangabad.
The police officer said the situation escalated after several members of Muslim groups marched near a police station and threw stones at police.
The attackers, wearing masks to hide their faces, carried sharp weapons and bottles, a resident of the area told the ANI news agency, in which Reuters has a minority stake.
The VHP denied accusations of engaging in any violence. It wants the tomb to be replaced with a memorial for rulers from the local Maratha community, its general secretary, Milind Parande, said in a video message.
Nagpur is also the headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The VHP belongs to the same family of organizations.
Modi’s critics have often accused him of discriminating against Muslims, and failing to act against those targeting them. He and his government have denied the accusations.
