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.

China has ramped up efforts to combat international scam gangs operating along the Thai-Myanmar border by sending its assistant minister of public security,

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.