Thirteen Indians trapped in Myanmar's Myawaddy area rescued

New Delhi: Thirteen Indians, who were among a group that was trapped in Myanmar’s Myawaddy area after falling prey to an international job racket, have been rescued.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Indians reached Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Last month, 32 Indians were rescued from Myawaddy following joint efforts by Indian missions in Myanmar and Thailand.

“We have 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,” Bagchi tweeted.

“Another 13 Indian citizens have now been rescued, & reached Tamil Nadu today,” he said.

Myawaddy area in southeastern Myanmar’s Kayin state bordering Thailand is not fully under the control of the Myanmarese government and certain ethnic armed groups hold sway over it.

“Some more Indian citizens have been rescued from their fake employers and are in custody of Myanmar authorities for illegal entry into that country,” Bagchi said.

He said legal formalities have been initiated to get them repatriated at the earliest.

“Details of agents allegedly involved in this job racket have been shared with relevant authorities in various States in India for appropriate action,” Bagchi said.

“Instances of similar job rackets have also come to light in Laos and Cambodia. Our Embassies in Vientiane, Phnom Penh and Bangkok have been helping in repatriating people from there,” he added.

On July 5, the Indian mission issued an advisory cautioning against unscrupulous elements offering jobs.

“The mission has observed in recent past that some lT companies engaged in digital scamming/forge crypto activities located in remote eastern border areas of Myanmar are recruiting Indian workers from different places through their recruiting agents on the pretext of potential employment opportunities in the IT sector,” it said.

After initial recruitment, the mission said Indian workers are taken to Myanmar illegally without proper documentation leading to their “entrapment”.

“In view of the above, Indian nationals are hereby requested to exercise due caution and verify the antecedents of the recruiting agents. It is advisable to have all requisite information (job description, company details, location, employment contract etc.) before accepting any employment that has been offered,” it said.

Myanmar is one of India’s strategic neighbours and it shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.