Job scams: Five Malaysians stranded in Cambodia rescued

 

The Malaysian government has rescued five Malaysians who were stranded in Cambodia, including a 16-year-old autism patient from Sarawak.

Bukit Aman Crime Investigation Department director Abdul Jalil Hassan said a police investigation team led by him was in Cambodia on a mission to rescue several Malaysians stranded in Cambodia under job scams.

He said the police, had until Jan 26, received a total of 262 reports involving 220 Malaysians stranded in foreign countries, including Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

"We are on our best to rescue those Malaysians stranded in foreign lands and we urge the families of the victims to provide details of the victims to the police and Foreign Ministry to help in our mission to rescue the victims," Jalil (above) said.

He said this after receiving five victims at the KLIA, who has been held in Cambodia for periods of between six months and two years.

Jalil said not all cases involving the victims were about job scams, adding there were also instances where some claimed to be victims after they borrowed money from the money launderers and those who lost their money at the casinos.

“These people who lose their money in the casinos claimed that they are victims of job scams and seek help through the Malaysian embassy and NGOs.

“Many NGOs have helped to rescue the stranded people and we appreciate their effort to bring them back.

“We also have statistics that show many Malaysians, who were rescued from Cambodia, have gone back voluntarily to work at the casinos as they love the environment in Cambodia,” he stated.

Jalil said out of 330 stranded in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and other countries, a total of 211 Malaysians have been rescued and the remaining 113 people are still stranded.

“In Cambodia alone, during the Malaysian police four-day mission recently, we rescued 116 people based on the 114 police reports lodged, involving 145 people and another 29 were still stranded in Cambodia.

“Another six, who were rescued during the police mission, could not return due to the violation of immigration laws of the country,” Jalil said.

He said the police team’s four-day mission was a coordinated effort by the police, Foreign Ministry, Malaysian embassy and Wisma Putra between Jan 24 and today.

“Our mission to Cambodia was aimed at discussing and appealing to the Cambodian authorities to establish coordination and rescue Malaysians stranded in Cambodia and also to seek their help to expedite the rescuing process to bring the victims.

“This is also to establish future cooperation and coordination between the two countries to help rescue victims in the future and also to help to identify the job scam syndicates operating in Cambodia and in Malaysia,” he added.

Don’t disseminate false information

Also present was Wisma Putra chief of protocol, Mohd Aini Atan.

The discussions were also aimed at continuing the cooperation to share information and data with the Cambodian police chief and the director-general of the immigration department of the country.

Jalil then urged the local NGOs to report genuine information and not disseminate false information on social media as such actions would affect the bilateral relations between both nations.

He also advised the families of the affected victims to provide sufficient information to the police and Foreign Ministry to help and expedite the rescue mission. - Mkini