45 Indians trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar rescued: MEA

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday said that it has rescued around 45 Indians trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar.

The information was shared by the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi who reiterated that India has been actively pursuing the case of Indians being trapped in fake job rackets in Myanmar.

"Thanks to the efforts of @IndiainMyanmar & @IndiainThailand, around 32 Indians had already been rescued. Another 13 Indian citizens have now been rescued, and reached Tamil Nadu today," tweeted Bagchi.

He also said that some more Indian citizens have been rescued from their fake employers and are in the custody of Myanmar authorities and legal formalities have been initiated for their return.

"Some more Indian citizens have been rescued from their fake employers and are in custody of Myanmar authorities for illegal entry into that country. Legal formalities have been initiated to get them repatriated at the earliest," added Bagchi.

The spokesperson further stated that the details of agents allegedly involved in this job racket have been shared with relevant authorities in various states in India for appropriate action.

Notably, instances of similar job rackets have also come to light in Laos and Cambodia.

The Indian Embassies in Vientiane, Phnom Penh and Bangkok have been helping in repatriating people from there.

"Sincere gratitude to all the agencies for ongoing cooperation in rescuing Indian nationals stuck in Cambodia," tweeted India in Cambodia.

Bagchi further warned Indian citizens to cross-check before accepting dubious employment offers overseas and apply extreme caution against such jobs. Earlier in September, in an advisory to Indian citizens, the MEA had cautioned IT skilled youth who were the targets of such fake job rackets.

"Instances of 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 the call-centre scam and crypto-currency fraud have come to our notice recently by our 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," read the MEA statement.

The victims were reportedly taken across the border illegally mostly into Myanmar and held captive to work under harsh conditions.

"Indian nationals are advised not to get entrapped in such fake job offers being floated through social media platforms or other sources. Before travelling on tourist/visit visa for employment purposes, Indian nationals are advised to check/verify credentials of foreign employers through concerned Missions abroad, and antecedents of recruiting agents as well as any company before taking up any job offer," added the statement.