11 captive Indians released from Laos’ Golden Triangle Zone

The Indian Embassy in Laos has rescued 11 Indians who were being held against their will, threatened and exploited by employers in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) located along the Mekong River.

The Indian citizens spent more than one month of fear and stressed life in captivity in Southeast Asia’s landlocked country before being rescued.

Thanking the government of Laos on Friday, Indian Embassy informed that they have now left for India via Bangkok.

Earlier this month, as many as 13 Indian citizens who were trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia reached Tamil Nadu after being rescued and repatriated by the Indian embassies located in the southeast Asian countries.

The Ministry of External Affairs said that it has been actively pursuing the case of Indians being trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar having rescued 32 Indians before October.

The MEA said that instances of job rackets have come to light in Laos and Cambodia and the Indian embassies in Vientiane, Phnom Penh and Bangkok have been helping in repatriating people from there.

Last month, the Indian government issued an advisory, warning the country’s IT-skilled youth not to get entrapped in fake job offers being floated through social media platforms or other sources.

The September 24 advisory stated that 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 call-centre scams and crypto-currency fraud have come to the notice of Indian 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.

“The victims are reportedly taken across the border illegally mostly into Myanmar and held captive to work under harsh conditions,” the advisory mentioned.

It suggested that before travelling on a tourist/visit visa for employment purposes, Indian nationals are advised to check/verify credentials of foreign employers through the concerned missions abroad, and antecedents of recruiting agents as well as any company before taking up any job offer.

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