Hyderabad: AIMIM President and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi Thursday urged External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar to intervene and ensure the rescue of 16 Indian nationals from the Myanmar-Thailand border.
Owaisi posted on the social media platform ‘X’ Thursday that he received a distressing message from a person held captive.
“At least 16 Indian nationals, including three from Hyderabad, were promised jobs in Thailand but taken to the Myanmar-Thailand border and enslaved. They are forced to work 18-20 hours daily, physically punished, and deprived of passports, phones, and medical facilities,” posted the MP.
He appealed to the EAM to intervene urgently to ensure the rescue of all Indians stuck there.
“This information comes from Mir Sajjad Ali, a resident of Osman Nagar, Hyderabad, currently incarcerated at the Myanmar-Thailand border. Two others with him are from Maula Ali and Banjara Hills,” Owaisi added.
India repatriated over 1,500 of its nationals from Thailand last year. They were brought back on special flights.
The rescued Indians were victims of organised cyber fraud networks, which had lured them with the promise of high-paying jobs. They were later held captive and forced to engage in illegal online activities.
As many as 11 people from Telangana were repatriated from Thailand in November last year. They were among 270 Indian nationals rescued.
They had fled to Thailand following a military raid on cybercrime hubs in Myanmar.
Another group of 55 people from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were rescued from cybercrime hubs in Myanmar. They were among 370 Indian nationals repatriated from Thailand.
All 55 belong to Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.
Since their mobile phones were seized in Myanmar and they had no money, the repatriates were provided assistance by the Andhra Pradesh government upon reaching India.
The Andhra Pradesh government successfully helped 79 people rescued from the Myanmar cybercrime network reach their homes.
Earlier, 24 people belonging to various regions of Andhra Pradesh were among the Indians repatriated from Thailand.
