Mohamed Rahman Swaray, Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security, has facilitated the unconditional release and repatriation of two Sierra Leonean nationals, who were allegedly imprisoned in Thailand. He made this advocacy through his Thai counterpart, Hon. Phiphat Ratohakit Prakaran, during a meeting on the side-lines of the first Global Labour Market Conference (GLMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The two Sierra Leoneans are known to be Daniel Fanne Sesay and Alpha Bundu, who were trafficked from Sierra Leone to Thailand by illegal recruiters, on the pretext that they were going to get lucrative jobs in Thailand. Report has it that on arrival in Thailand, they were allegedly arrested and detained by the Thai police.
The Minister said that the two Sierra Leoneans had been incarcerated in Thailand for a couple of months and that the Government of Sierra Leone was concerned about their plight, for which he is trying everything possible to not only get them out of prison, but for them to return to Sierra Leone.
“Your Excellency, as a government, we are concerned about the plight of our nationals currently imprisoned in Thailand. The two young men were illegally tricked and trafficked into your country in the guise of colourful job employment. But on arrival, it is alleged that they were arrested and imprisoned. I am requesting your good office to facilitate their unconditional release and repatriation to Sierra Leone,” he stated.