Hundreds of Chinese workers started to arrive home on Thursday after being freed from online scam centres in Myanmar, as authorities crack down on the illegal operations.

Thousands of foreigners are expected to be repatriated from Myanmar in the coming weeks, starting with hundreds of Chinese nationals over the next three days.

The compounds are run by criminal gangs and staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked and forced to swindle people around the world in protracted internet scams.

Many of those involved in the scam farms are Chinese, and Beijing has stepped up pressure on Myanmar and Thailand to shut the operations down.