Mohamed Rahman Swaray, the Minister of Employment, Labour and Social Security has facilitated the unconditional release and repatriation of two Sierra Leonean nationals who are allegedly imprisoned in Thailand.

He made this advocate 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.

In his statement, the  Thailand’s Minister of Labour, Phiphat Ratohakit Prakaran assured that he would do all in his powers to ensure that the request is given utmost consideration and the two Sierra Leoneans are released and repatriated back to Sierra Leone.

The two ministers also discussed issues to foster collaboration and common interest to expand opportunities in the labour market for Sierra Leone and Thailand as was communicated by the by Abubakarr Bah, the Information Attaché.