Twelve Moroccans duped by a call centre gang into working in Myanmar entered Thailand on Friday after being rescued.
They were rescued after the Moroccan embassy in Bangkok urged the Thai government and related authorities to help save 21 Moroccans held captive in Myawaddy district by scammers who trick people worldwide into working for them.
Move Forward Party MP Rangsiman Rome, in his capacity as the chairman of a House committee on state security, asked the army to assist with the rescue mission.
He said the army reached out to the victims and negotiated with their captors, which led to the release of 12 people. Seven others had already been released after ransoms were paid, while the other two refused to leave Myawaddy, said Mr Rangsiman.
“I’d like to thank the army again. Without them, we wouldn’t have been able to rescue the Moroccans,” he said.
The army said in a statement that after receiving the tip-off from Mr Rangsiman, it got in touch with several foundations and non-governmental organisations. It subsequently found out that the 21 victims were held captive in a casino located across from Phob Phra district in Tak province.
The army contacted the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army to request assistance in negotiating with the casino’s owner. The army confirmed the 12 Moroccans were rescued and arrived in Thailand at 10am on Friday.
It was previously reported that the Moroccan embassy wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the army, the Department of Special Investigation and the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok on May 17 asking for help.
However, no progress was made, so the embassy contacted Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsang.
According to the anti-human trafficking group Exodus Road, the victims were promised jobs at an e-commerce business in Thailand with a starting monthly salary of about US$1,000 (36,000 baht).
However, they were subsequently taken across the border where they were pressed into call-centre jobs in which they were told to dupe people in Morocco into parting with their money.
- Commentary: Tackling the scammers at the border
