Hundreds of foreigners refuse to leave scam centre on Thai-Myanmar border: KNU

Nearly a thousand foreigners working at a scam centre in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township have refused to leave, despite fears of imminent clashes, according to the Karen National Union (KNU). The group, which raided the compound in Minletpan, a village controlled by the rival Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), on November 23, said the foreigners were among more than 3,500 people found to be working there. In a statement released on Tuesday, the KNU said that 942 foreign nationals had refused to leave the compound. Almost all are Chinese, it said. The others were identified as four women from Taiwan, four women from Vietnam, and three other women from Laos, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan. The statement did not explain why the foreigners were refusing to leave the compound, known as Shunda Park. It added that the KNU was providing them with food and other supplies. Of the 3,582 people found to be inside the compound at the time of its capture, 2,640 have been successfully evacuated, according to the statement. Two junta army columns are reportedly advancing towards Minletpan, which has already been hit by a series of airstrikes and continues to come under heavy artillery fire. The village is located about eight miles southeast of Myawaddy, the main town on Karen State’s border with Thailand. On Sunday, there were reports of a 120mm artillery shell landing near where some evacuees were waiting to cross the Moei (Thaungyin) River into Thailand. Another shell landed on a building at the Shunda Park compound, the KNU said. No casualties were reported. On the same day, another shell landed on the Thai side of the border, injuring at least two civilians and damaging a house and prompting Thai military authorities to close ports along the river. Meanwhile, a gunfight broke out in Myawaddy on Tuesday when junta troops and members of the Karen State Border Guard Force raided a house sheltering Chinese nationals who had fled from a scam centre, residents of the town told Myanmar Now. “They went in to arrest those staying there, but the Chinese also had weapons and fired back. The fight lasted about half an hour and ended when the Chinese fled as [junta] reinforcements arrived,” a local woman said, speaking on condition of anonymity. According to the woman, two of the Chinese nationals were killed, and some of the regime forces carrying out the raid sustained injuries. At least one Chinese national and four others are believed to have been killed during the KNU’s November 23 raid on the Shunda Park compound.

Hundreds of foreigners refuse to leave scam centre on Thai-Myanmar border: KNU

More than 900 foreign nationals—mostly Chinese—remain at the compound more than a week after it was raided, the group says

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