Indian workers who were lured into illegal work in Laos. PTI
New Delhi, April 6
After getting back over 300 Indians who were trapped into conducting illegal cyber operations in Cambodia and Myanmar, the government has managed to rescue 17 more from Laos.
In a post on X, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the 17 Indians who were lured into unsafe and illegal work in Laos, are on their way back home. He also complimented the Indian embassy in Laos for its successful efforts in the case.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had on Thursday released an advisory asking Indians to be cautious against falling for lucrative-sounding jobs in Cambodia that are actually put out by human traffickers. It said Indians should thoroughly check the background of employers offering jobs in Cambodia. The MEA said when the Indians arrive in Phnom Penh, they are arm-twisted into calling up Indians to dupe them through online financial scams and other illegal activities.
The government has an arduous task ahead of it in rescuing thousands of Indians who are believed to be among the estimated two lakh people trapped in Myanmar and Cambodia and forced to commit online deception and fraud.
Besides the 17 rescued from Laos, the MEA has managed to trace and rescue 250 Indians from neighbouring Cambodia and about 30 from Myanmar. The rescue operation in Cambodia, with the help from the local authorities, began after the Indian embassy received several complaints from Indians being coerced into illegal work.
These people were being forced to call up their compatriots in India and have earned their employers billions of dollars by duping people. The largest proportion of such people is Chinese and reports have spoken of Beijing bringing back hundreds of its citizens from Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines.
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