Jakarta. The Indonesian government on Tuesday began airlifting hundreds of its citizens who had fallen victim to, or were coerced into, a criminal network in Myanmar, with assistance from Chinese and Thai authorities.

The first phase of the evacuation saw 200 citizens arrive in Indonesia in the morning, followed by another 200 later in the day, according to Judha Nugraha, the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s director for Indonesian citizen protection. The remaining 154 individuals are scheduled to return on Wednesday, he added.

A total of 554 Indonesians -- comprising 449 men and 105 women -- were initially lured with promises of high-paying jobs in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. However, they were instead forced into working for an online scam syndicate under conditions resembling virtual slavery.

They were among more than 7,000 individuals of various nationalities rescued from the syndicate through joint operations involving China, Thailand, and local militia groups in Myanmar.

The victims were previously held in the town of Myawaddy, near Myanmar’s border with Thailand, where they were forced to participate in fraudulent investment schemes, online gambling scams, and romance scams.

“The Indonesian government is collaborating with Thailand and China to rescue and repatriate our citizens who have become victims of a large-scale online scam syndicate in Myanmar," said Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan.

According to government data, more than 4,700 Indonesian citizens have been rescued from international cybercrime syndicates in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam between 2020 and 2023.