84 Indonesians freed from scam centers in Myanmar arrive home

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Eighty-four Indonesians freed from scam centers in Myanmar arrived in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, late Friday, part of a massive repatriation movement that is straining regional resources.

They were among more than 7,000 people being held in the Myanmar border town Myawaddy following a crackdown on the scam centers by Thailand, Myanmar and China. Two buses carrying the Indonesians arrived Thursday in the Thai border city of Mae Sot, where the passengers had health checks, and their identities were verified.

The 84 Indonesians, which included 69 men and 15 women, were brought home on three commercial flights Friday. The first flight, carrying 38 evacuees, arrived at 8:05 p.m. local time. The evacuees, many wearing dark hoodies, red scarves, and face masks, declined to comment to the media following a briefing by Indonesian authorities.

They were escorted through a crush of reporters outside an arrival terminal at Soekarno-Hatta international airport into a waiting bus.

“They were healthy,” said Judha Nugraha, the foreign affairs ministry's director for citizen Protection, who, along with Indonesian diplomats in Yangon and Bangkok had been in Mae Sot since Feb. 23 to coordinate with various parties in Thailand and Myanmar.

“This is a long repatriation process carried out by the Indonesian government in collaboration with authorities in Thailand and Myanmar,” Nugraha told reporters at the airport. He added that the government continues to communicate with Thai and Myanmar authorities to facilitate the return of more than 360 Indonesians who were stranded in Myanmar after leaving the scam centers. It was not immediately clear why only 84 were being repatriated.

Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been lured to work in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where they are forced to perpetrate global scams involving false romances, fraudulent investments, and illegal gambling. Many of the workers were recruited under false pretenses, only to find themselves trapped in virtual slavery.

Indonesia's foreign affairs ministry said that approximately 6,800 Indonesians have fallen victim to illegal job scams in Myanmar and several other countries over the past few years.

The crackdown on the scam centers followed a meeting in Beijing in early February between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Chinese leader Xi Jinping where she said Thailand would crack down on the scam networks.

Thailand has cut off electricity, internet and gas supplies to several areas in Myanmar hosting scam centers along the border.

More than 600 Chinese nationals were repatriated last week. Earlier, some 260 people from 20 countries, including Ethiopia, Brazil and the Philippines, crossed from Myanmar into Thai custody. Many have returned home but more than 100 remain in Thailand awaiting repatriation, Thai officials said.

“This case is a valuable lesson for people to be careful in looking for work abroad,” Nugraha said, “We call on all Indonesian citizens to find jobs overseas in the right way, legally and according to existing procedures, for the sake of their safety in obtaining the welfare as expected.

Associated Press writer Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, contributed to this report.

Indonesia nationals who had worked at scam centers in eastern Myanmar sit in a waiting room upon arrival from Thailand, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Indonesia nationals who had worked at scam centers in eastern Myanmar hold up their passports upon arrival from Thailand, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Indonesia nationals who had worked at scam centers in eastern Myanmar walk into a waiting room upon arrival from Thailand, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Indonesia nationals who had worked at scam centers in eastern Myanmar walk upon arrival from Thailand, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

Indonesia nationals who had worked at scam centers in eastern Myanmar sit in a waiting room upon arrival from Thailand, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Mohamad Al-Assi ran beneath the concrete wall as the sun rose over Bethlehem. His Nikes pounded the gravel, his breath fogging the air as graffiti and paint splatter blurred past with each stride.

The road along the barrier separating Israel from the occupied West Bank makes up a stretch of a marathon route that Al-Assi and thousands of others ran on Friday. The event is open to people in other parts of the world running in solidarity with the Palestinians and another, shorter race was happening in Gaza.

The race, known as the Palestine Marathon, was held for the first time in three years and was among the first big international events in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Festivals, conferences and holiday festivities that once drew thousands have been scaled back or canceled because of the war in Gaza and heightened Israeli restrictions.

It marked a turning point for Al-Assi, 27, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago. Video from that day shows him gaunt-faced and hollow-eyed, his once muscular legs weakened after more than two and a half years of prison.

He began training in December, gradually upping his mileage every month since. He ran 62 miles (100 kilometers) that first month, and in April reached 135 miles (217 kilometers), according to his account on the tracking app Strava.

He jogs in the morning after his mother wakes him up in their home in Dheisheh, a Palestinian refugee camp made up of graffiti-covered cinderblock homes in tangled alleyways.

“The main difficulties we face are the cars on the roads and the presence of Israeli security forces along the route where I train,” Al-Assi said.

He had to suspend his training several times because of military operations in the camp.

“I would return home feeling hopeless because I couldn't do what I had intended to do,” Al-Assi said.

In the West Bank, runners cannot complete a 26.2-mile (42.2-kilometer) course without hitting a checkpoint or military gate, which is why Friday's marathon route looped around the same circuit twice.

They ran up through the narrow streets of two Palestinian refugee camps and down to a farming town next to Bethlehem where fields are divided by the concrete wall, barbed wire and cameras. The course hooked back to finish at Bethlehem’s Manger Square.

Organizers say the race highlights restrictions facing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where checkpoints can disrupt even routine commutes and where open land for hiking, biking and running is increasingly taken by Israeli settlements and outposts.

“Marathon runners anywhere may ‘hit a wall’ under the physical and emotional strain of completing the 42-kilometer race course," they said on the marathon's website.

But in the West Bank, they added, "runners literally hit the Wall.”

At a time when the West Bank’s economy is struggling and in the shadow of Gaza's fragile ceasefire and stalled rebuilding efforts, the atmosphere in Bethlehem was celebratory. Crowds gathered near the Church of the Nativity to cheer runners at the race's early morning start and finish. Bagpipes blared and drummers pounded out traditional rhythms through streets along the route.

On a beachside road in Nuseirat in central Gaza — which is roughly the length of a marathon — 15 disabled people, including amputees, ran a 2K, and a couple thousand of people ran a 5K. Thirteen years after the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, canceled a 2013 marathon because Hamas forbade women from participating, the women were back.

Haya Alnaji, a 22-year-old woman who ran in the 5K, said the number of people taking part reflected that Palestinians in Gaza were determined to live and persevere despite the devastation wrought by more than two years of war.

“All of Gaza loves sports,” she said.

Al-Assi was arrested in April 2023, and imprisoned under administrative detention, which allows Israel to hold detainees for months without charge. Between 3,000 and 4,000 Palestinians are being held under that system, according to Israeli rights groups and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

In October 2023, Al-Assi was sentenced for transferring money to suspicious entities, a charge he denies. Israel closely monitors money transfers — particularly to Gaza — for fear that funds could end up in the hands of militants. Palestinians, however, say donations and charitable contributions are often swept up in the dragnet. Israel’s military, Shin Bet and Prison Service did not answer questions about Al-Assi's charges.

In Israeli prisons — where detainees routinely complain of inadequate diets — Al-Assi said nearly everyone goes hungry. The weight he lost eroded the endurance built through 10 years of training.

“I have more muscle mass than fat, so when I lost weight, the loss came from my muscles rather than fat,” he said. “This had a major impact on my physical fitness.”

He also had to regain the mental fortitude to run a marathon.

“I was emotionally shattered after spending such a long period in prison,” he said.

On Friday, he collapsed to his knees, bowing and thanking God after finishing second overall, as supporters and journalists encircled him. He dedicated his run to Palestinians still in Israeli detention.

“After 32 months in prison, Mohamad Al-Assi is first in his class!” he shouted through tears, raising his hands and looking up to the sky.

__ Imad Isseid contributed from Bethlehem, West Bank and Abdel Kareem Hana from Nuseirat, Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian amputee runner takes part in the 2-kilometer Palestine Marathon along the coastal road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian runners take part in the 5-kilometer Palestine Marathon along the coastal road near Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Runners participate in the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Runners pass by Israel's separation wall as they compete in the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinian Mohamad Al-Assi, who was released from Israeli detention six months ago, runs past Israel's separation wall as he trains ahead of the Palestine Marathon in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sam Metz)