Thousands of foreigners freed from online scam-operating centres in Myanmar are stuck in limbo on the border with Thailand after a multinational crackdown on the compounds run by criminal gangs, three sources told Reuters on Monday.

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.

Myanmar’s military government said it is ready to hand over about 1,000 foreign nationals rescued from cyber scam centers near the Thai border as authorities vowed to intensify a crackdown against transnational criminal groups.

A group of 200 Chinese nationals plucked from scam centres in Myanmar crossed into Thailand and were flown home on Thursday, as part of a multinational effort to repatriate hundreds caught up in massive internet fraud schemes,

Efforts to shut down online scam centers in Myanmar appear to gain momentum with a visit by a top Chinese official to the border zone ahead of expected large-scale repatriations of workers in the illicit industry.

Myanmar handed over 300 Chinese scam centre workers to be repatriated through Thailand on Friday, as authorities intensify a crackdown on the illegal operations.

China will fly home about 200 of its nationals found in scam-running compounds on the Thai-Myanmar border, a Thai security official said on Tuesday, as part of a multinational effort to crack down on illegal online operations run from the region.