14 Malaysian nationals have been rescued from human traffickers and repatriated to Malaysia, according to a press statement by the Malaysian embassy in Cambodia on October 6.
The statement said that all of them had arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on October 6 in two separate flights.
According to the statement, the Malaysian Foreign Affairs Ministry thanked the Cambodian government for its cooperation and commitment to finding and rescuing Malaysian nationals who fell into the hands of these criminal groups.
The Malaysian embassies in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar are working with authorities in those countries to rescue Malaysian nationals who were victims of a job scam that lured them abroad.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Chum Sounry said that the ministry was providing full cooperation with all foreign embassies in the fight against human trafficking in all forms. The ministry also worked with relevant local authorities in rescuing all foreign nationals who were suspected to be the victims of human trafficking.
“In the case of the Malaysian nationals, H.E. Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn had already had a phone conversation with his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah during his short visit to Cambodia on September 9 and talked about further cooperation on fighting human trafficking and scamming,” he said.
Sounry said the Malaysian foreign minister thanked Cambodia and relevant authorities for supporting and facilitating the rescue of the victims.
He also pointed out that the majority of Malaysian people who come to Cambodia do so voluntarily for reasons like legal jobs and business investments and many of them are very successful. Those who fell into the hands of criminals due to job scams were a small percentage of that number but the government was fully committed to finding and rescuing them.
The press statement said that as of October 6, a total of 273 Malaysian nationals have been rescued and 213 of them have been repatriated home, while another 60 are undergoing the procedures to be repatriated.
Saifuddin Abdullah called on all victims who have been rescued to cooperate with Cambodian authorities on their investigations and to avoid the spread of fake news which could affect the outcome of their investigations.
