Verify credentials of foreign employers: MEA advisory following fake job offers in Myanmar

The exact number of Indian IT professionals being held in Myawaddy could not be ascertained, though at least 32 have been rescued so far

With a number of youths from India being held in Myanmar and forced to commit cybercrimes, the government on Saturday issued an advisory, warning the country’s Information Technology (IT) professionals about dubious companies offering jobs in Thailand.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued the advisory weeks after Indian missions in Thailand and Myanmar came to know about the dubious IT firms luring youths from India with offers of jobs, only to send the new recruits to remote border areas in Myanmar and to force them to commit cybercrimes, like call centre scams and cryptocurrency frauds.

The government has advised the citizens “not to get entrapped in such fake job offers being floated through social media platforms or other sources”.

The IT professionals recruited from India by the dubious companies to the posts of “Digital Sales and Marketing Executives” in Thailand were made to walk through forests and cross rivers to illegally enter Myanmar. They were made to work at facilities set up in Myawaddy in Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar, according to reports.

The exact number of Indian IT professionals being held in Myawaddy could not be ascertained yet. So far, India has facilitated rescue of at least 32 of such people. The Indian embassy in Yangon is in contact with about 50 others, while according to MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, nearly 80-90 more might be still in captivity in the facilities set up in that area in southeastern Myanmar.

Myawaddy and the areas around it are partially controlled by the Karen National Union (KNU), which has been fighting against the successive governments of Myanmar since 1949. Though the Myanmar Army staged a coup on February 1, 2021, it has not yet taken control of the Kayin State.

The Myanmar Army in July launched a major offensive against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) – the armed wing of the KNU – to take over a strategic road connecting Myawaddy with Walley near the country’s border with Tak province of Thailand. The offensive, however, failed, with the Myanmar Army not being able make any significant headway, in spite of deploying 18 battalions and using cluster munitions.

“That area as you know is difficult to access due to the local security situation,” Bagchi told journalists. “Nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of our missions in Myanmar and in Thailand, we have been able to facilitate the rescue of some of these victims from captivity or forced labour and we are trying to help others.”

The fake job rackets are operating through agents in Dubai, Thailand and India. “The target groups are IT skilled youth who are duped in the name of lucrative data entry jobs in Thailand through social media advertisements as well as by Dubai and India based agents,” the MEA noted in its advisory issued on Saturday. “The victims are reportedly taken across the border illegally mostly into Myanmar and held captive to work under harsh conditions.”

“Before travelling on tourist or visit visa for employment purposes, Indian nationals are advised to check and verify credentials of foreign employers through concerned missions abroad, and antecedents of recruiting agents as well as any company before taking up any job offer,” the MEA stated in the advisory.

A source in stated that India’s security agencies received inputs suggesting that crime syndicates having links with China were also involved in running the fake job rackets to recruit IT professionals from different countries and force them to commit cybercrimes.