After more than a decade of rapacious scam activity, reports Asia Sentinel, dual pressure from the US and China has caused the Myanmar military to raid Shwe Kokko, a notorious compound 40 km from the Thai border town of Mae Sot where enslaved workers defraud online victims globally, although analysts are skeptical over the junta’s seriousness.
“A combination of Chinese pressure and US sanctions have panicked Chit Thu [leader of the Karen Border Guard Force, which works together with the Burmese military] and the Burmese military into a public relations exercise to convince the world they are taking action,” said Mark Farmaner, the director of Burma Campaign UK. “We are witnessing a farcical situation where they are raiding their own town to destroy facilities they helped build and which they have been profiting from.”