The Consulate General of Uzbekistan in Bangkok helped the nationals of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan who became victims of human trafficking in Myanmar to return to their homelands, Dunyo news agency said.

Two Uzbek nationals contacted the diplomatic mission asking to help them return to their homeland. They said that they had arrived in Thailand after they had been offered a high-paying job on the Internet, they were given a free plane ticket from Uzbekistan.

Upon arrival in Thailand, they were fraudulently smuggled to Myanmar, where they fell into the hands of criminal groups involved in human trafficking. There, they were forced to work in fraudulent call centers. Refusal to do the work was accompanied by physical violence and threats. A large monetary compensation was demanded for release and return to their homeland.

Eight nationals of Kyrgyzstan and four nationals of Kazakhstan found themselves in a similar situation in Myanmar. Given the absence of a diplomatic mission of Kyrgyzstan in Thailand, diplomats of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, at the request of the Kyrgyz authorities, assisted in organizing the return of these nationals to their homeland.

As a result of negotiations with the relevant authorities of Myanmar and Thailand, nationals of the three countries were released and handed over to diplomats of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the border crossing point of Maesot (Thailand), where they were provided with temporary housing and food.

On April 11, with the assistance of the diplomatic missions of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in Thailand, all 13 people were successfully repatriated to their homeland.

The Consulate General of Uzbekistan in Bangkok urged fellow countrymen to be vigilant when considering offers of employment abroad and carefully check the reliability of information sources.