Link to Article : https://apnews.com/article/myanmar-scam-centers-cybercrime-thailand-border-daa90f481ea4207e7d7a891dda1161c8
Myanmar’s military shut down a major online scam center. In response, more than 1,500 people had fled from Myanmar to Thailand. The KK Park site, which was identified as a major cybercrime operation, was raided by Myanmar’s army in mid-October. The people who fled Myanmar are believed to have worked at the center. The KK Park center is located on the outskirts of Myawaddy, a major trading town on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. On Friday, witnesses reported hearing explosions and seeing smoke coming from the KK Park center. The authorities in Thailand have set up temporary shelters for the people who fled. They are being processed to see if they were victims of human trafficking. An online news service, the Irrawaddy, reported that Myanmar is continuing to operate in the Myawaddy area despite the raid on KK Park.
The article says that a majority of the people who fled were not from Myanmar. The majority of the home countries include India, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Ethiopia and Kenya not being in the same region as the other countries makes me believe that the workers were recruited under false pretenses. The article states that Myanmar is notorious for hosting cyberscam operations. I think that this has negative long term effects on Myanmar, not on the region as a whole. At first I was a little shocked that Thailand set up shelters for the people who fled, then the article stated that this could be due to human trafficking.
The two major stakeholders involved in this are Myanmar and Thailand. Myanmar did not make a comment in the article, and is continuing to operate in the area of where the raid was. Thailand is caring for the people who fled. Thailand has increased their military presence on the Thai-Myanmar border. The UN is already involved in Myanmar, but their efforts have not helped the country so far. I think that the UN could increase their humanitarian aid, such as providing aid to the temporary shelters. I do not think that any other countries in the region will involve themselves in this.
The article connects to the IB Global Politics themes of rights and justice, as well as peace and conflict. The fact that human trafficking could be involved connects to human rights and equality. The increase in military presence on the border of the two countries could cause an increase of conflict between them. Also, the UN has been trying to help Myanmar obtain negative peace, but has not been able to. The article also connects to borders, as refugees were travelling across the border of the two countries.