Over 60 people were illegally brought to Myanmar after falling prey to an international racket promising jobs in Thailand, sources from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. With the help of the government of Myanmar, the Indian embassy has started rescuing stranded people.
“There is an international racket exploiting Indian citizens with offers of jobs in Thailand, but they are brought illegally into Myanmar. As per the available information from various sources, more than 60 Indian nationals are duped by the racket,” MEA sources told the news agency ANI.
The embassy has rescued over 30 Indians out of the 60 trapped in the Myawaddy area, according to an earlier report by PTI news agency. The Indian embassy has been working closely with the government of Myanmar for their rescue. Notably, the Myawaddy area is not fully under the control of the Myanmar government.
Myanmar are recruiting Indian workers from different places through their recruiting agents
On July 5, the Indian Embassy in Myanmar’s Yangon released an advisory where it said, “The Mission has observed in the recent past that some IT 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 IT sector.”
It noted that Indian workers were being facilitated to enter 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,” the statement said.
One of India’s strategic neighbours, Myanmar shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including Nagaland and Manipur.
Earlier this month, Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana informed the assembly a total of 30,401 people from Myanmar have crossed the international border and taken refuge in the northeastern state after the neighbouring country’s military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi there in February last year.