Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba proposed Wednesday that Japan take the lead in organizing an international conference to discuss measures against scam operations in Myanmar where thousands of people from across the world have been forced to work.

Citing that many Japanese people are among the victims, Ishiba told a Diet session that Japan should "show leadership" on the issue, such as by "taking the initiative in holding an international meeting," without elaborating.

The issue has been attracting attention since a Thai nonprofit organization said in January that over 6,000 people from 21 nations were being forced to work for scam groups believed to be run by Chinese syndicates in Myanmar areas bordering Thailand.

According to an armed ethnic minority group effectively controlling an area home to some scam groups in the southeastern Burmese city of Myawaddy, about 7,000 people from 27 countries and regions, most of whom are Chinese, have been freed.

The group said Friday that it holding a 36-year-old Japanese man near the border with Thailand, and the whereabouts of some 20 Japanese nationals believed to have been present at a scam center are unknown.

Thai authorities took two Japanese high school students into protective custody in January and February, and Japanese police are investigating the students' connection with the scam groups.