Fifteen more Sri Lankans rescued from Myanmar cybercrime camps

Fifteen more Sri Lankans who had been forced to work in cybercrime camps in Myanmar have been rescued, the Foreign Ministry said. 

The group of Sri Lankans were rescued through an operation conducted jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism and the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand with the coordination with the Thai Government, the Ministry said in a statement. 

The 15 Sri Lankans were handed over to Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Thailand Wijayanthi Edirisinghe by Thai authorities at Mae Sot border crossing between Thailand and Myanmar today. A group of officials from the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand were on hand to receive the group. 

The group was rescued following a series of negotiations conducted via phone between Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath with Thailand's Minister of Foreign Affiars Maris Sangiampongsa and Myanmar's Foreign Minister U Than Swe. 

Minister Herath praised the role of Sri Lanka's Embassy in Thailand for intervening diplomatically to rescue the group of Sri Lankans, the Office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for providing logistical support, non governmental organisations for providing other welfare facilities and the role of the governments of Thailand and Myanmar.

Earlier, a group of 14 Sri Lankans were rescued from cybercrime camps in Myanmar and returned to Sri Lanka on March 18, while 27 Sri Lankans were also rescued and brought back on December 17, last year.