(COLOMBO) – Eight Sri Lankans, including two females rescued from cyber scamming camps in Myawaddy area in Myanmar arrived into the country on Wednesday morning after being repatriated with the help of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Out of the 56 Sri Lankans who were trapped in cybercrime camps in Myawaddy, eight were rescued by Myanmar Government authorities in early March and sent to the Myawaddy central police station, after which they arrived at the Sri Lankan embassy in Thailand on April 11.
In December 2023, media reports revealed the plight of a group of nearly 60 Sri Lankans, who were lured with tourist visas behind the false front of lucrative IT sector job offers and were being held captive in Myanmar by a notorious ethnic armed group.
It was revealed that they had been duped into applying for job vacancies by a certain agent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), only to be trafficked to cyber slavery camps in Myawaddy where they were forced into internet scams.
According to statements made by the captives, they had been forced to appear as romantic partners to foreigners in order to steal their money. In the event they refuse to do as told, the captives had been subjected to torture, which they said included electrocution, water-boarding in cages, suspending them by their hands and starvation.
