6 Indian workers who were 'tortured in captivity' in Thailand rescued: NHRC
Four of those rescued were repatriated to the country the very next day, it said, adding that the employer paid for their return journey to India
New Delhi, Mar 7 (PTI) The NHRC on Saturday said its intervention in a case related to six Indian workers facing “torture in captivity” by their employer in Thailand for the last several months has resulted in their rescue.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had recently sought a response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in this case.
The suo motu intervention by the NHRC resulted in the MEA “acting swiftly to rescue the six Indian workers” from Odisha’s Kendrapara district, who were facing “torture in captivity” by their employer in Thailand for the past six months, the rights panel said in a statement.
Four of those rescued were repatriated to the country the very next day of the NHRC's communication to the MEA on February 20, it said, adding that the employer paid for their return journey to India.
They reached Kolkata by a flight booked by their employer from Bangkok, the statement said.
The MEA's Southern Division informed that it is pursuing the matter of repatriation of the remaining two rescued workers with the Thai immigration authorities, as they had overstayed their visa, the statement said.
On February 20, the Commission had sought the MEA’s comments on whether it could render any assistance to the families of the six captive workers after taking cognisance of a media report.
“Moving promptly on receiving the NHRC communication, the MEA’s Southern Division sent a request to the Thai authorities to rescue them and also contacted the owner of the company, in which the six workers were reportedly working,” the NHRC said in the statement.
The media had reported about a video on February 17, in which the workers from Kendrapara had shared their plight, the NHRC said.
“They were held captive and subjected to physical and mental torture by their employer inside a plywood factory near Bangkok. They were forced to work for 12 hours a day without any salary or proper food. Reportedly, their employer also confiscated their passports,” the statement said. PTI