By U AC
MYANMAR border regions are like the wild wild west of the past. And the wild part has exploded exponentially in these semi-autonomous regions, governed by warlords, crime lords and drug lords. The contagion has shifted from the previously confined boundaries of the Golden Triangle to even mushrooming to penetrate the centre of the business hub of Yangon.
Now mesmerizing casinos, illegal gambling dens, scam operations, human trafficking, drug paddling, kidnapping, and gun violence can be seen from Pan Shang in Wa region, Namkhan in northern Shan, Myawady right opposite Mae Sot, Three Pagoda pass in the South, to Hlinethaya FMI estate and famous towers of Golden City and Myanmar Plaza. Obviously, the latter three are in Yangon municipality, hence the activities there are more supervisory and management in nature, rather than openly engaging in these underworld activities.
And the leadership might have been aware of these for decades, yet taking effective action is easier said than done. With peace between the central government and the ethnic regions on thin ice, getting rid of obvious criminal activities has taken a back seat, compared to preserving stability, hoping for the dawn of a development era.
Yet, the results have not been encouraging at best. Violence spread more, peace accords were as fragile as a rosebud, and regions under the control of the central government got smaller and smaller. The government is fighting back. Recent speeches by the Senior General highlighted a shift towards a more decisive and heavy-handed approach to dissidents and unruly EAOs.
The sudden change in attitudes
The fact is that the government has been aware of these for at least a couple of decades. Our big brother China has also been pushing the government to take decisive action in the border regions for many years. Yet, the resolute measures did not happen until like a couple of months ago.
Between the second and third weeks of February, the government papers pages are full of crackdowns on scam centres and returns of illegal migrants, who settled here to do nothing but crime. The front pages were also occupied with news of a similar nature.
Actions followed
5 February: Acting on the tip-off, security forces raided the places where the online gambling and scams are concentrated in Mong Yai Township, Shan State (North), and an armed engagement occurred with security personnel of ‘telecom fraud’ in the southeast of Mong Yai. During the clash, security forces discovered two dead bodies, arrested five ‘telecom fraud’ security personnel, seized six weapons and detained eight Chinese nationals and seven Myanmar nationals.
Security forces also seized seven buildings and 181 mobile phones, 25 laptops, 21 desktops, 28 keyboards, two Wi-Fi devices, two Starlink devices, one gun, five bullets and other gambling materials near Naunghan village.
6 February: Security forces arrested nine Chinese nationals — eight males and one female, 18 Vietnamese females and 27 Myanmar nationals — two males and 25 females — near Naunghan village in Mongha area together with 72 computers, five Starlink devices, 79 mobile phones, five fish gambling machines and two vehicles.
7 February: 12 Chinese males were arrested with one Alphard vehicle and one generator near the vicinity of Naunghan village.
Prosecution will be made against the offenders, and foreigners will be transferred to their respective countries on bilateral relations between the countries and humanitarian grounds.
Minister of Home Affairs also met the Chinese Ambassador on 14 February, probably to explain the ‘urgent’ enforcement measures being undertaken to rid the country of gang lords’ escapees from China. The talks focused on the expulsion of foreigners in Myawady, Kayin State, as per the procedures, arrests of online scammers and gamblers in the Mongha region of Mongyai Township in Shan State (North), transfer of Chinese fugitives, holding of China-Myanmar-Thailand senior officials meeting to combat online scams and gambling in Myawady, ongoing cooperation between the two ministries and future cooperation.
3,000+ captured and extradited so far
Shortly after the get-together, Myanmar authorities transported 300 Chinese nationals, who illegally entered the country via border routes to run online gambling and telecom fraud in Myawady, Shwe Kokko and KK Park areas, to China on 23 February.
The detainees admitted in media interviews that they illegally entered Myanmar, passed through some neighbouring countries and were forced to work in telecom fraud and online gambling in the Myawady and KK Park areas.
On 24 February, another batch of 22 foreigners were arrested and deported again from the Myawady area and handed back to the welcoming hands of China’s Ministry of State Security.
All in all, within February and March, 3,000+ illegals were arrested and extradited to their respective countries. And the world wonders why it is taking so long to do such a quick job.
Why Such an Abrupt Change of Heart?
The change in attitudes and prompt actions came after various countries, including China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Thailand, publicly or privately asked the government to act. After initially blaming Kayin EAOs for what’s been happening and Thailand for the supply of infrastructure, the latter cut off the electricity, fuel and internet infrastructure within one month, depriving the residents of essential services except for a few houses powered by solar energy. The Thais acted swiftly. Within another week or so, the BGF Chief Saw Chit Thu held a press conference, right after the Thai government designated him as a fugitive with an immediate warrant of arrest. He amazingly claimed to be totally oblivious of such scams and illegal activities being carried out by his tenants in the Shwe Kokko compound and audaciously blamed one of the ministers in the current cabinet for introducing him to the scam gang. You can see in Saw Chit Thu’s actions too, on the expert application of the blame game and acting blur amid all arrows being pointed at him.
With that, the government’s strategy of pointing fingers at others fell short of credibility, and they ended up being put in a corner. There was now an urgent need to be decisive in our initiatives. All stars got aligned from mid-February onwards in salient to push back the invading forces of scam gangs.
As one of the DAs (Defence Attachés) in Myanmar said, the Myanmar people are like rockets. When their asses are on fire, they will act really fast.
