YANGON: SpaceX has cut service to more than 2,500 Starlink devices at Myanmar scam centers, a company executive said Wednesday, after reports revealed that their use had exploded in the illicit industry.
Sprawling compounds where Internet tricksters target foreigners with romance and business cons have thrived along Myanmar’s loosely-governed border during its civil war, sparked by a 2021 coup.
A highly-publicized crackdown starting in February saw some 7,000 workers repatriated and Thailand enact a cross-border Internet blockade.
But an AFP investigation this month revealed construction has continued apace, while Starlink receivers have been installed en masse, seeming to connect the hubs to the Elon Musk-owned satellite network.
SpaceX’s vice president of Starlink business operations, Lauren Dreyer, said the company “disabled over 2,500 Starlink Kits in the vicinity of suspected ‘scam centers’” in Myanmar.
Her post on X did not outline when the terminals were disconnected.
Myanmar’s military announced this week it had raided KK Park — one of the country’s most notorious scam centers — and seized 30 Starlink satellite Internet terminals.
Those are only a tiny fraction of the number used at the site, according to AFP’s investigation as well as independent analysis.
An AFP journalist on Wednesday saw more than 1,000 people traveling away from the site on foot, by motorbike and crammed into pickup trucks.
One departing KK Park worker said the crackdown was ongoing.
“Around 10:00 a.m. Myanmar military soldiers in four trucks arrived to our site,” said one worker who declined to give his name for security reasons.
The scam centers have emerged as a key plank in the wartime economy of Myanmar, where the military has been fighting an array of rebel groups since seizing power.
Frustrated that Chinese citizens were ring-leading scams, being trafficked into the hubs and defrauded by them, Beijing in February led the pressure campaign to curb the booming black market.
The junta relies on military backing from China to maintain its grip on power.
But it also relies on powerful militias controlling the border regions on their behalf, in return for profiting from the scam centers, analysts say.
“They need to be able to enrich those militias,” said Nathan Ruser, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. “But then they also have the pressure from China.”
The result is a “balancing act,” he said, with the junta “tokenistically” taking action “while actually not doing anything.”
SpaceX says ‘disabled’ 2,500 Starlink devices at Myanmar scam centers
https://arab.news/yppp9
SpaceX says ‘disabled’ 2,500 Starlink devices at Myanmar scam centers
- Sprawling compounds where Internet tricksters target foreigners with romance and business cons have thrived along Myanmar’s loosely-governed border
- Myanmar’s military announced this week it had raided KK Park and seized 30 Starlink satellite Internet terminals
94 million need cataract surgery, but access lacking: WHO
- Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision
GENEVA: More than 94 million people suffer from cataracts, but half of them do not have access to the surgery needed to fix it, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.
Cataracts — the clouding of the eye’s lens that causes blurred vision and can lead to blindness — are on the rise as populations get older, with age being the main risk factor.
“Cataract surgery — a simple, 15-minute procedure — is one of the most cost-effective medical procedures, providing immediate and lasting restoration of sight,” the WHO said.
It is one of the most frequently performed surgeries undertaken in high-income countries.
However, “half of the world’s population in need of cataract surgery don’t have access to it,” said Stuart Keel, the UN health agency’s technical lead for eye care.
The situation is worst in the WHO’s Africa region, where three in four people needing cataract surgery remain untreated.
In Kenya, at the current rate, 77 percent of people needing cataract surgery are likely to die with their cataract blindness or vision impairment, said Keel.
Across all regions, women consistently experience lower access to care than men.
Of the 94 million affected, fewer than 20 percent are blind, while the rest suffer from impaired vision.
- 2030 vision -
The WHO said that over the past two decades, global cataract surgery coverage had increased by 15 percent.
In 2021, WHO member states set a target of a 30-percent increase by 2030.
However, current modelling predicts that cataract surgery coverage will rise by only about 8.4 percent this decade.
To close the gap, the WHO urged countries to integrate eye examinations into primary health care and invest in the required surgical equipment.
States should also expand the eye-care workforce, training surgeons in a standardised manner and then distributing them throughout the country, notably outside major cities.
The WHO was on Wednesday launching new guidance for countries on how to provide quality cataract surgery services.
It will also issue guidance to help support workforce development.
Keel said the main issue was capacity and financing.
“We do need money invested to get rid of this backlog, which is nearly 100 million people,” he told a press conference.
While age is the primary risk factor for cataracts, others include prolonged UV-B light exposure, tobacco use, prolonged corticosteroid use and diabetes.
Keel urged people to keep up regular eye checks as they get older, with most problems able to be either prevented or diagnosed and treated.
The cost of the new lens that goes inside the eye can be under $100.
However, out-of-pocket costs can be higher when not covered by health insurance.
“Cataract surgery is one of the most powerful tools we have to restore vision and transform lives,” said Devora Kestel, head of the WHO’s noncommunicable diseases and mental health department.
“When people regain their sight, they regain independence, dignity, and opportunity.”
