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A seventh Moroccan national, among those kidnapped by human trafficking organizations in the Myanmar-Thailand border area, has regained his freedom, according to the Coordination of Families of Captive Nationals.
In an open letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita, the organization called, on Wednesday May 29, for urgent intervention to secure the release of other fellow citizens who have been locked up for several months. One of them, Youssef, was released for a ransom of nearly 80,000 dirhams, according to his sister Zahra.
Testifying on the Saudi channel Al Hadath TV, the young woman explained that her brother had been taken to Thailand to finalize the administrative procedures required for repatriation to Morocco.
According to her, however, the process remains uncertain, dealt with on a case-by-case basis, as illustrated by the broken promises to «five other hostages» concerning their release. In the end, this was not possible, despite the payment of the ransoms demanded of their relatives. For their part, some victims miraculously managed to escape from the camp, described by many as a place of exploitation and open-air torture, where Chinese mafia militias operate with impunity.
The letter sent to Bourita was circulated just as he was on a visit to China, where he held talks with his counterpart Wang Yi, in Beijing. The families called on Bourita to raise the subject with his Chinese partners, especially as the efforts of the relatives remain limited when it comes to coordination with «international humanitarian organizations fighting human trafficking in Thailand and Myanmar».
The same demands were voiced by the families during two sit-ins, held respectively in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy. For its part, Thailand's representative in the kingdom affirmed that its government is «willing to cooperate» with its counterparts «in all countries whose nationals are being held by these networks».
Difficult negotiations to get the hostages out safely
On May 15, Morocco's ambassador to Thailand, Abderrahim Rahhaly, reassured the families of teh abducted Moroccans, reporting that his diplomatic mission was closely monitoring the situation and considering all possible steps to help free their children. At the same time, the diplomat told MAP news agency that the detained fellow citizens are among «several thousand people of all nationalities, notably from African, Asian and European countries», facing the same fate.
In this regard, Rahhaly assured that the Moroccan Embassy in Bangkok is «in daily contact with the Thai authorities in particular, in order to monitor the situation and gather information regarding the Moroccans in question». At the same time, he stressed that «it is important to take all necessary precautions to avoid guarantee the safety of our nationals and aviod putting their life in jeopardy».
On the same day, the King's Public Prosecutor at the Casablanca Court of Appeal ordered the opening of a judicial inquiry entrusted to the National Criminal Investigation Department (BNPJ). Additionally, a coalition of 20 civil society associations, the Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights Organizations, sent an open letter to various government bodies and national institutions, alerting them to the situation.
The letter, dated May 21, is addressed to the head of Moroccan diplomacy, the Interministerial Delegate for Human Rights (DIDH), the President of the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), the President of the Public Prosecutor's Office, and the General Directorate for National Security (DGSN).
For the record, several young Moroccans have been abducted by armed militias in Thailand after being lured with fake high-paying jobs in e-commerce.
