Dozens of Thai workers rescued from Malaysia, illegal agents nabbed

SONGKHLA, THAILAND, November 26 (TNA) - Authorities concerned have rescued over 50 Thai workers, scammed by illegal employment agents to work in neighbouring Malaysia, while two of the illegal agents have already been arrested. As the case is suspected to have related to human trafficking, Thanet Sanitwatee, an official at the employment office in Songkhla Province in the Thai South, told journalists on Wednesday that his office has joined forces with the Royal Thai Police's Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTD) to assist the 51 Thai workers tricked by the illegal employment agents, who provided them with fake job documents to work in Malaysia. Thanet reported that all of the rescued Thai workers have already arrived at the Sa Dao border pass in Songkhla, where they have also been questioned by concerned authorities so that the illegal agents will be tracked down. One of the Thai workers said all of them paid 20,000-25,000 baht each to an employment agency and were provided with fake work permits to cut the agency's cost while they entered into Malaysia with their legal travel documents. Meanwhile, AHTD officers have caught two suspected illegal agents in the case and charged them with conspiring to lure people to work abroad illegally. The AHTD police were interrogating both suspects to find out whether the scam is connected to any human trafficking syndicate. Thanet stated that the 51 Thai nationals are skilled workers demanded by Malaysia and his office will, thus, assist them to later return to work in Malaysia legally, after ongoing legal procedures of the case are completed. (TNA)