An airlift carrying more than 1,000 Chinese nationals who had worked at online scam centers in eastern Myanmar began Thursday, after the rescued workers were taken across the border to Thailand and put on chartered flights to China.

A group of 50 Chinese nationals plucked from scam centres in Myanmar crossed into Thailand to take a flight home, a Thai police official said on Thursday, as part of a multinational effort to repatriate 600 Chinese.

Around 7,000 rescued workers are waiting to be moved across the border to Thailand, says Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra. View on euronews

China began repatriating 200 of its citizens who worked in cyber fraud operations in Myanmar, the first batch returning from the centers international groups have said are a nexus of human rights abuses and criminal activity.

Hundreds of Chinese workers started to arrive home on Thursday after being freed from online scam centres in Myanmar, as authorities crack down on the illegal operations.

A crackdown on Myanmar’s scam hubs has freed 10,000 workers, but concerns remain over the sustainability of the efforts against powerful crime syndicates.