Battered Myanmar scam centre workers wait for deportation to China

Battered and bruised Chinese workers from online scam centres in Myanmar face an anxious wait to return home, as Beijing and Thailand finalise plans for their repatriation.

Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar's borderlands and are staffed by foreigners who are often trafficked and forced to work, swindling people around the world in an industry analysts say is worth billions of dollars.

An AFP stringer saw signs of physical abuse, including massive bruising and burns on the buttocks of some of the hundreds of people, most of whom are believed to be men from China.