Thirteen Indian citizens, enticed into unlawful labor in Laos, have been extricated and are en route back to their homeland, the Indian embassy in the Southeast Asian nation announced on Sunday. Merely last month, 17 Indian laborers were liberated in Laos and subsequently repatriated to India.
“In our unwavering commitment to prioritize the safety and well-being of Indian nationals, the Embassy has successfully extricated and repatriated 13 Indians, including 7 Odiya laborers from a timber factory in Attapeu province and 6 Indian youths from the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, Bokeo province of Laos,” the Indian embassy conveyed on ‘X’.
“To date, the Embassy has rescued 428 Indians from Lao PDR. We express our gratitude to the Lao authorities for their cooperation,” it stated. The embassy also urged Indian nationals seeking employment in Laos to exercise utmost caution to avoid being ensnared in fraudulent or illicit work engagements.
“For Indian workers aspiring to come to Laos/Lao PDR, ensure you do not jeopardize your safety by being deceived into accepting fake or illegal job offers related to cyber scams and similar activities,” it advised. On May 7, the embassy issued a directive warning Indians against fraudulent job offers. “Recently, we have noticed incidents where Indian nationals are being enticed through Thailand for employment,” it noted.
“These spurious job offers are for positions such as ‘Digital Sales and Marketing Executives’ or ‘Customer Support Service’ by dubious entities involved in call-center scams and cryptocurrency fraud within the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos,” the embassy highlighted in the advisory.
It elaborated that agents operating in locations such as Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, and India, in conjunction with these companies, are recruiting Indians through simplistic interviews and assessments. “Victims are illicitly transported across the border into Laos from Thailand and detained to labor in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone under severe and restrictive conditions,” it reported.
“Occasionally, they are taken hostage by criminal syndicates engaged in illegal activities, coerced into arduous work under relentless physical and mental duress,” the advisory detailed. The embassy indicated that instances of Indian laborers being brought to Laos for employment in other regions, in low-wage positions such as mining and timber factories, were not uncommon.
In most situations, their handlers exploit and compel them into illegal labor, it noted. “Numerous Indians have been rescued under extremely challenging conditions,” it added. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs cautioned Indian nationals against falling victim to human traffickers offering lucrative job prospects in Cambodia.
In an advisory, the ministry implored Indians contemplating employment opportunities in the Southeast Asian region to meticulously verify the credentials of prospective employers.
