KUCHING: The 47 Malaysians who were released from Banteay Meanchey provincial prison in Cambodia over the week all have their respective stories as to why they wanted to work in that country.
This was revealed by Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, who said all the detainees seemed to have their “scripts” when interviewed at Kuching International Airport (KIA) last Sunday.
“I cannot comment more on this matter because there are some things that we cannot disclose to everyone. Let the professional people deal with them,” she told reporters during her visit to Ranee Museum at the old Court House here yesterday.
According to her, the main role of the state government was to get the detainees released and bring them home safely.
The minister also pointed out that most of the detainees did not tell their parents about their actual work and whereabouts.
“I hope this incident is a lesson to everyone. To young people, tell your parents the truth about your work ̶ not to hide until bad things happen,” she stressed.
In the meantime, Fatimah also advised the people especially youngsters to refer to the relevant authorities such as the embassy if they were offered jobs abroad.
“If anything happens to you abroad, the embassy can inform the government and your parents too,” she said.
The minister also suggested that the former returnees (the young ones) to go for skills training provided by governmental institutions like the Centre of Technical Excellence (Centex).
“For the older ones, find jobs through valid avenues and do not get taken in by promises that are too good to be true.
“As what Cambodian Senior Minister (Special Mission) said, if the jobs are good, of course, then the Cambodians also want them,” she said.
