M'sia rescued 261 job scam victims in six months - minister

PARLIAMENT | Wisma Putra has rescued 261 Malaysians who fell victim to job scams in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar between April to September this year.

Of the figure, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said 171 individuals have returned home, while the remaining 90 are awaiting departure.

“From the four countries, the highest number was recorded in Cambodia with 139 workers who came home, while 56 others are pending departures,” he said during Minister Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He was responding to Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh (BN-Sabak Bernam) who asked the government to state actions taken to assist Malaysians who fell victim to job scams in the countries.

“Malaysia, through our diplomatic officers, will continue to cooperate with authorities in the countries to find and rescue all victims still under the control of job syndicates.

“Actions taken include to seek cooperation and assistance from local authorities, as well as provide consular assistance to bring the (rescued) workers home,” Saifuddin said.

Mohd Fasiah in a supplementary question cited a figure of over 3,000 Malaysians still trapped by alleged job scams but the minister maintained that aside from the 261 already released, there are only 88 others being identified for rescue.

He added there are various ways in which Malaysians ended up trapped abroad, including those who went for holidays but were later lured to work.

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