A new crackdown on online scam centers has led to over 7,000 people from around the world being held in a Myanmar border town awaiting repatriation, and those helping them say the unprecedented number is straining the resources of Thailand just across the border and leading to delays.

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.

Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai urges foreign governments to repatriate nearly 7,000 detained foreigners in Myanmar after call-centre scam crackdowns, warning of a potential mass exodus if swift action is not taken.

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.

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,

A sweeping crackdown led by authorities from Thailand, China and Myanmar has dismantled scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border and freed thousands from nearly 30 countries, but helping them return home remains a big challenge,