Check with Malawakil before accepting foreign job offers, says Saifuddin

 

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysians who receive job offers from foreign countries can check with the Malaysian Representative Office Overseas (Malawakil) to verify if the job offer is genuine.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said this in light of recent cases of Malaysian youths falling prey to human trafficking syndicates after being lured with telemarketing and customer service job offers in Cambodia.

He said those wanting to check on the legitimacy of the job offer could email the e-consular services and Malawakil.

"You can also check with us. For example, if you get an offer from a company in Phnom Penh.

"Ask us, we will try to get the information," he said in a group interview on Saturday (May 7).

He advised citizens to check thoroughly before taking up such offers to avoid being cheated.

He said a group of 16 Malaysians were released recently and there were 20 more who were being held by Cambodian police.

He added there were previously 47 Malaysians who were repatriated back to Malaysia from Cambodia.

He said the Malawakil in Phnom Penh was following these cases closely, adding that the Malaysian envoy had also written to the Cambodian government to seek for the release of the Malaysians there, so that they could be brought home.

Saifuddin added that the government was working with several groups from both countries including MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong.

"We should also give credit to his team for working very hard," he said.

The issue first came to light when Chong told a press conference on March 30, that several young Malaysians became victims of a human trafficking syndicate after being lured with telemarketing and customer service job offers in Cambodia and the promise of a lucrative pay.

The victims were either approached personally through contacts or social media advertisements.

Once in Cambodia, they were forced to make calls to unsuspecting victims from their respective countries.

Some of the victims were physically abused if they did not perform and men armed with guns guarded the building they were kept captive in. - Star