A GROUP OF 21 Cambodian workers being held in Thailand pending their testimony in the case of a meatball factory owner accused of violating their rights returned to the Kingdom yesterday, officials said.

Soy Kany, second secretary of the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok, said he negotiated with Thai authorities on four occasions before securing the release of the 15 women and six men, who had been detained for four months.

“I explained to them that the workers had been tricked by conmen, and they are not offenders,” he said.

Last week, relatives of the workers and embassy officials requested that Thailand release the workers in time to celebrate the Pchum Ben festival in

Cambodia.

Because the Thai court requires testimony from the group, the Cambodian embassy will choose two representatives, one man and one woman, to testify in Thailand on October 6, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said.

On May 27, Cambodian and Thai officials rescued 29 workers who were thought to have been sold to the owner of the meatball factory in Samut Sakhon province.