The families of 6 Pakistanis abducted from Thailand and taken into Myanmar by job scammers are seeking help from the governments, foreign ministeries and diplomatic channels for the release of their sons from the custody of the cruel individuals who are torturing them making the life a hell for them and for their families for last many months.
The abducted Pakistanis are Muhammad Aamir Hussain, Muhammad Zain from Phalia Mandi Baha ud Din, Shahid Mehmood from Sialkot and three others, Kashif Hussain, Faraz Khan and Shehroz Khan from Hyderabad Sindh for who Former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto called upon concerned authorities to take the measures for their release from the abductors.
The matter was first raised with Pakistani and Thai officials more than two months ago but unfortunately no response has been seen from any side so far.
Arab News had already reported about the abduction last month that families of the Pakistani nationals say they were lured by a group of scammers in Thailand with the offer of lucrative jobs and were now being forced to work up to 18 hours a day and being tortured, including through sleep deprivation and electric shocks, according to their family members.
While the exact nature of the work the Pakistanis are allegedly being forced to do is not known, the scammers had set a performance target of $150,000 per employee against a salary of $200 a month for the first six months and $500 per month thereafter for a year.
A copy of a contract by a company called YONGQIAN Group seen by Arab News did not specify the type of work the Pakistanis were required to do in return for the $150,000 target but said their employment period would be extended until the goal was achieved, while any employee resigning before 18 months would have to pay $8,000 to the company.
Kidnapped boy Zain’s father , Qamar Zaman is working in Thailand for 10 years. He called his son Muhammad Zain to Thailand 2 months ago. An acquaintance of the Zaman family, Shahid Mehmood from Sialkot married to a Thai woman with two children convinced Zaman to send his son with the job scammers while Shahid himself did not know about their fraud.
Shahid had accepted the offer by the scammers and took Zain with him but instead of lucrative salary a hell fell upon the families in shape of the conditions they are being kept there.
Zain and Mehmood shared their location using the “secret phone” of three other Pakistani nationals from the Sindh province who were also being held captive on the Myanmar side of the Thailand-Myanmar border.
Qamar breaks down recalling what his son shared with him. Zain informed his father about the agnocy he was going through. The boy cried for his early release and otherwise he will die there. Qamar lodged a complaint about his son’s “abduction” with the Thai police on June 12 and was struggling to bring him home.
In a third case, a resident from Sindh’s Hyderabad, Ashiq Hussain, has written a letter to the Pakistani embassy in Myanmar saying his son Kashif Hussain, 22, and two of his friends, Faraz Khan and Shehroz Khan, had gone to visit Thailand on Feb. 19, but met some individuals in Bangkok who offered them “good jobs with handsome salaries” on employment visas, tempting them into traveling to Myanmar.
Hussain said he had reached out to the Pakistani embassy in Myanmar two months ago after his son shared his location using the secret phone. The embassy has not responded to him till now.
Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on 24 July 2024 , taking notice of reported kidnapping of three Pakistanis in Myanmar, called upon the concerned authorities to take measures for their recovery and repatriation.
In a statement issued from Media Cell Bilawal House, he stressed for utilizing diplomat channels to locate and recover three boys namely Kashif Hussain, Faraz Khan and Shehroz Khan of Hyderabad, who travelled to Thailand from where they were allegedly taken to Myanmar and held hostage.
Bilawal Bhutto expressed sympathy with the loved ones of these boys and assured PPP will raise voice at all relevant forums for the recovery of these boys.
The gang seems to be very well connected and leaving no foreigner without trapped as an Indian man has also been kidnapped from Thailand to Myanmar in the same manner and planning.
Mr Pradeep Kushwaha, 34 from Ghazi Pur , UP India was abducted two months ago for a better job before he was working in Thailand as restaurant manger. He is now in Myanmar while his wife and two kids are in India. Pradeep has been missing since May 14, 2024, from Chiang Mai, Thailand. His friend received a call from his cell number while unknown person was speaking and that person asked for a ransom of $ 8000 for release of Pradeep.
This is a test case for all related authorities and governments of three countries. Myanmar Embassy in Islamabad knows nothing or avoiding to issue any statement in this regard. Families of the boys are looking forward to some miracle as no authority from any country has responded to their satisfaction so far.
Tazeen Akhtar / Islamabad / 24 July 2024 
