New Delhi [India], October 7 (ANI): Around 50 people from Myanmar and 80 from Cambodia who were held captive in fake job rackets have been rescued, India said on Friday and added a word of caution asking citizens to remain extremely careful of dubious jobs they accept. “Around 50 people have been rescued so far. We are trying to get back others too. We do not have the exact number of people captive in Myanmar. We are in touch with many Indians there,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Indians stuck in Myanmar.
He further added that some of these have been released from Myanmar’s captivity and some are with Myanmar police as they entered the country illegally. Over instances of similar job rackets in Laos and Cambodia, Bagchi said that our Embassies in Vientiane, Phnom Penh and Bangkok have been helping in repatriating people from there. “We have issued advisories in this regard. Our embassy in Phnom Penh has issued advisories. I would like to reiterate to everyone to be extremely careful what kind of dubious jobs you accept because once you are stuck there it gets very difficult to bring you back safely. This is a word of caution,” Bagchi noted. “Around 80 people have been rescued from Cambodia but it is an evolving number,” he added.
Earlier, India on Wednesday said that it has rescued around 45 Indians trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar. The information was shared by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi who reiterated that India has been actively pursuing the case of Indians being trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar.
“Thanks to the efforts of @IndiainMyanmar & @IndiainThailand, around 32 Indians had already been rescued. Another 13 Indian citizens have now been rescued, and reached Tamil Nadu today,” Bagchi had tweeted.
He also said that some more Indian citizens have been rescued from their fake employers and are in the custody of Myanmar authorities and legal formalities have been initiated for their return. “Some more Indian citizens have been rescued from their fake employers and are in custody of Myanmar authorities for illegal entry into that country. Legal formalities have been initiated to get them repatriated at the earliest,” added Bagchi.
The spokesperson further stated that the details of agents allegedly involved in this job racket have been shared with relevant authorities in various states in India for appropriate action. “Sincere gratitude to all the agencies for ongoing cooperation in rescuing Indian nationals stuck in Cambodia,” tweeted India in Cambodia. Bagchi further warned Indian citizens to cross-check before accepting dubious employment offers overseas and apply extreme caution against such jobs.
Earlier in September, in an advisory to Indian citizens, the MEA had cautioned IT skilled youth who were the targets of such fake job rackets. “Instances of fake job rackets offering lucrative jobs to entice Indian youths for the posts of ‘Digital Sales and Marketing Executives’ in Thailand by dubious IT firms involved in the call-centre scam and crypto-currency fraud have come to our notice recently by our Missions in Bangkok and Myanmar. The target groups are IT skilled youth who are duped in the name of lucrative data entry jobs in Thailand through social media advertisements as well as by Dubai and India-based agents,” read the MEA statement.
The victims were reportedly taken across the border illegally mostly into Myanmar and held captive to work under harsh conditions. “Indian nationals are advised not to get entrapped in such fake job offers being floated through social media platforms or other sources. Before traveling on tourist/visit visa for employment purposes, Indian nationals are advised to check/verify credentials of foreign employers through concerned Missions abroad, and antecedents of recruiting agents as well as any company before taking up any job offer,” added the statement. (ANI)
