Nepal Police has stepped up efforts to bring home nine Nepali migrant workers, who have been languishing in custody in Turkey for entering the country illegally, through diplomatic channels. 

Three Bangladeshis had trafficked Tilak Pun, Kusang Tamang, Chakra Bahadur Tamang, Tul Bahadur Gharti Magar, Chitra Bahadur Pun, Jhapendra Kumar Khadka, Megh Bahadur Chhantyal and Bir Bahadur Pun, who had been working in the UAE, into Turkey through Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iran in April, in the name of providing them lucrative jobs in Europe. In Turkey, they landed in custody for entering the country without legal documents. 

“The traffickers forced the victims to make telephone calls to their families in Nepal for ransom payment, threatening to take their lives otherwise,” DIG Nawa Raj Silwal, central police spokesman, said. Then the families of the victims lodged a complaint at the Metropolitan Police Crime Division, seeking its help for their rescue. 

On May 25, the National Central Bureau-Kathmandu, a member of the Interpol, requested its Ankara counterpart to facilitate rescue of the Nepali workers. Based on this request, Turkish police raided a room in Istanbul and arrested three Bangladeshi traffickers for holding the Nepalis captive. Based on their accounts, the police held 10 more Bangladeshi racketeers. 

“The Nepalis are still living in Turkey and its government has charged them with entering the country without documents. They are in custody and we have written to the Ministry of Home Affairs to bring them home,” DIG Silwal informed.

Published on: 30 June 2013 | The Himalayan Times