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Thirty Bangladeshi workers detained at an immigration detention centre in Cambodia after escaping alleged captivity at online scam centres are scheduled to return home on Tuesday.
They are expected to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 12:10pm on a Thai Airways flight, TG-321, on October 20.
The Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, under the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, confirmed the development.
According to the board, it instructed the labour wing of the Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok to take necessary steps for the workers’ early release and repatriation following an application from the Anirban Survivor Voice Foundation.
A letter signed by Mohammad Zakir Hossain, deputy director (IRP) of the board, urged the authorities to arrange their release in accordance with the relevant procedures.
According to the workers’ families and people concerned, the Bangladeshis had travelled to Cambodia through brokers after being promised attractive salaries. After arriving, however, they were allegedly confined against their will at cyber scam centres and forced to engage in online fraud.
They reportedly faced severe torture when they attempted to escape.
On September 3, the workers went to the airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, intending to return home under procedures set by the Cambodian government. Immigration police arrested 32 Bangladeshis over alleged immigration violations and other complications.
Although two were subsequently released, the remaining 30 had stayed at the country’s immigration detention centre pending their return.
The 30 workers are Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid, Mohammad Abdul Wadud, Mohammad Tarlib Hasan Titul, Sumit Chandra Das, Rakib Hossain, Bappi Das, Mohammad Labon Sheikh, Mohammad Abdur Rahman, Mohammad Billal Hossain, Mohammad Mostafa, Nur Nabi, Mohammad Emon Ali, Mohammad Barkatullah, Mohammad Rubel Mia, Ali Ahmed, Zahidul Islam, Shamsul Alam, Mohammad Abdur Rahman, Abu Jaher Sabuj, Shawon, Nahid Dhali, Raju Hossain, Mohammad Taiyeb Ali Sheikh, Simon Bhuiyan, Mohammad Rashedul, Mohammad Akash Ahmed, Mohammad Shimul Ali, Ashikur Rahman, Mohammad Alamin PK and Mohammad Kabir.
