Some M’sians may be heading Myanmar scam syndicates, says minister

Some M’sians may be heading Myanmar scam syndicates, says minister

PETALING JAYA: Some of the Malaysians who are currently being “held” by job scam syndicates in Myanmar and Thailand may actually be holding high positions in the syndicates, says foreign minister Mohamad Hasan.

Mohamad said 114 Malaysians have been rescued and brought back home after being involved with syndicates in Myanmar, and 157 from Thailand.

He said Thailand was often used as a transit point for these syndicates to bring foreigners into Myanmar for work.

He said Wisma Putra was tracking down 140 Malaysians in Myanmar and 14 in Thailand with the help of local authorities.

“There is a possibility that some of these Malaysians do not intend to return to Malaysia because they hold high positions in the syndicates, such as manager.

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“There is also the possibility that some individuals reported as missing by their families had actually returned to Malaysia without notifying the ministry or police,” he said in a written parliamentary reply.

Mohamad, also known as Tok Mat, said Malaysians from Johor made up the majority of job scam victims so far at 19%, followed by Selangor (13%), Sarawak (12%), Kuala Lumpur (12%), Perak (11%) and Penang (9%).

He also said Putrajaya has no plans to issue a travel advisory against going to Thailand or Myanmar for now, adding that this was in view of preserving the good ties with both nations.

“Instead, Putrajaya will discuss the issue through existing platforms, including making use of our Asean chairmanship to look for a suitable solution,” he said.

He was responding to Oscar Ling (PH-Sibu), who asked for the number of Malaysians being held by syndicates in Myanmar and Thailand, and whether Putrajaya planned to issue a travel advisory.

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Mohamad said most of these syndicates operated in the north of Myanmar, bordering Thailand and China, and that these areas were controlled by ethnic armed groups, not the Myanmar government.

He said Putrajaya has been actively holding campaigns to raise awareness among Malaysians about job scams to prevent them from being duped by these syndicates.