SEPANG: Six Malaysians, stuck in Myanmar after being duped by a job scam syndicate, have arrived in the country today.
The victims arrived at 12pm at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Thai Airways flight from Bangkok and were accompanied by Teruntum assemblyman Sim Chon Siang.
Sim said he was in Bangkok since Dec 14 to facilitate the return of the victims.
"The six victims are aged 19 to 30 and were from Miri, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur and Batu Pahat.
"Four of the victims managed to escape during a roadblock by Thai authorities enroute to Laos after being sold to another job scam agency," he said.
The victims worked at a place called KK Garden in Myanmar, he said.
Sim added that the four were later detained by the local police in Mae Phrik for two weeks as they did not having any official documentation before receiving help from a Malaysian citizen residing in Thailand, who then relayed information to the Malaysian authorities.
He said that the other two victims were released by their captors in Mae Sot, Thailand, after they saw a viral video of the victims' mother pleading for the release of their child.
"Fearing that the case would turn huge, the syndicate left the duo at a restaurant in Mae Sot who were later rescued by the Thai authorities, which then referred them to the Malaysian embassy in Thailand."
He added that the syndicates also contacted family members of the victims for ransom and made the victims work more than 15 hours a day without food or rest.
They were also tied to a bed frame and forced to carry heavy loads while squatting if they did not meet their daily work target.
Sim urged parents to check on their children who had been offered overseas jobs with suspiciously lucrative pay to prevent more Malaysians falling victims to these syndicates.
"Parents, do check on your child's work offers, especially those who have been offered lucrative pay overseas so that they don't fall for the scam. Stern action by the authorities will be taken on any local job scam syndicate agents trying to recruit more victims," he said.