Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of trends in levels of people trafficking to work as forced labour in scam centres in Myanmar run by Chinese-organised crime syndicates; and what information her Department holds on whether British nationals have been forcibly trafficked to work in those centres.

The UK is acting in concert with our allies and partners to combat the growing transnational threat from scam centres, including by joining the US in sanctioning the multi-billion-pound Prince Group network in October, and sanctioning 3 individuals in 2023 for their involvement in trafficking to Myanmar-based scam centres. By exposing and severely disrupting such actors, our sanctions act as a strong deterrence and put pressure on the wider scam economy and its enablers, supporting the efforts of affected countries in the region. We keep all evidence and potential designations under close review. It would not be appropriate to speculate about potential future sanctions designations as to do so could reduce their impact.

Scam centres operating in Myanmar are likely to target a wide range of nationals, including British nationals, as victims of scams and potentially for recruitment into the centres themselves. It is crucial that all British nationals carefully consider job offers in the region, especially where the offer appears too good to be true.