Over 50 Myanmar workers have been arrested for illegal entry to Thailand as the surge of COVID-19 infections in Myanmar has prompted Thai authorities to tighten border control measures.

Border patrol police unit in Mae Sot district of Tak province napped the illegal migrants cramming inside a house on the bank of the Moei River.  They carried no travel documents in apparent attempt to seek jobs in Thailand. 

Security measure has been beefed up along the Myanmar border as hundreds of new coronavirus cases have been reported since last week.

Mae Sot is the main gateway for land transport linking with Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.  The Myanmar government ordered closures of schools nationwide as the number of cases rose.

However, the epicenter of the outbreak is Rakhine State, about 500 kilometers from Yangon, where lockdown and curfew have been in place. 

Source: TNA