The task force met the Hongkonger at a Thai detention centre, where the victim had been sent following their rescue from Myanmar, last Friday. The victim was “in good mental and physical condition,” the Security Bureau said in statement released on Saturday.
Travellers in the Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: GovHK.
“The task force members expressed sympathy to the individual, who expressed gratitude for the visit to Thailand by the task force members to follow up on his case,” the statement read, saying that the victim was “very pleased” he would be returning to Hong Kong on Monday.
Talking on Commercial Radio on Saturday, the security chief Chris Tang said he felt “moved” to know the 29-year-old Hongkonger had been rescued from Myanmar and would be home for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Cases of Hongkongers being trafficked to Myanmar have received increased media attention in recent months. Former pro-democracy district councillor Andy Yu has been supporting several affected families, many of whom have expressed feelings of helplessness over being unable to help free their loved ones.
Yu said last Monday that a victim he had been assisting was in Thailand after being rescued from a Myanmar scam ring after at least four months there.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang meets the press after Chief Executive John Lee announced his second Policy Address on October 27, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Tang said there were still at least 10 Hongkongers detained in scam farms in Southeast Asia, with nine in Myanmar and one in Cambodia.
“We will not stop our rescue efforts. We can still reach the other 10, and they’re safe,” Tang said in Cantonese. “We will work with authorities of other countries to bring back those people as soon as possible.”
Tang said that those victims were kidnapped in Thailand and later trafficked to other countries such as Cambodia or Myanmar. Due to the political complexities of those countries, the Hong Kong government was mainly cooperating with the Thai government to try and bring the victims back.
Since mid-2024, authorities had received a total of 28 reports linked to Hongkongers trafficked to Southeast Asia, 18 of whom had been returned to the city. However, the government has not specified whether returnees had secured their freedom through diplomatic channels or by paying the ransoms often asked of them.
When asked by a Commercial Radio host whether families should pay the ransom, Tang said every means could be considered to save the victims but suggested the families first got in touch with the Hong Kong Police Force.
‘A friend in Hong Kong’
Speaking on the radio, Tang mentioned “a friend in Hong Kong” who often commented on Hongkongers detained in Southeast Asia.
“We are grateful for his help in supporting the families in terms of their mentality… I believe he’s doing it with a good intention,” Tang said. “But I want to remind that sharing updates on rescue efforts without full knowledge of [authorities’] arrangements will could put those still detained at risk risk.”
A family member (left) of Hongkongers being helf captive in Myanmer visits the country’s consulate in the city to plead for help on January 20, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Earlier this month, pro-establishment lawmaker Joephy Chan said on her YouTube Channel that former district councillor Yu was only supporting the victims’ families because he wanted to run for election again.
On January 17, Yu wrote on Facebook that he did not want to run for any elections in Hong Kong and that he had been helping the families since last September, when they first sought his assistance.
A former member of the defunct Civic Party, Yu was first elected as district councillor in 2015, and was re-elected in 2019. He announced his resignation from the Civic Party in June 2021. A month later, he resigned from the District Council one month when a large number of pro-democracy district councillors quit amid reports of impending mass disqualifications.
