KUCHING, March 20 — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Sarawak region director Fenny Nuli today said that many Malaysians are still stranded in Myanmar after falling victim to overseas job scams and require rescuing.

She said Sarawakians topped the list of the victims from Malaysia, and most of them were 19 or 20 years old.

"The victims of employment fraud syndicate among the people of Sarawak is very worrying because it is at the top of the statistical charts in Malaysia,” she said in a news release issued by the state Information Department after she paid a courtesy call to Governor Tun Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar at Astana Negeri here.

"I have voiced the same matter in my meeting yesterday with Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah as an effort to reduce this crime from continuing to happen and I am ready to work with the state government,” she said.

Fenny said she shared her experience with the governor and Uggah when she was involved in helping to rescue 16 victims from Sarawak who returned home on November 6, 2023.

She was they were among the 43 Malaysians who were victims of job fraud in Lima, Peru when she was the ambassador there.

"I also informed the governor that my office will work with several agencies in Sarawak to hold public awareness programmes about job scam syndicates, and that our office on the 14th floor of Sultan Iskandar Building is always open to receive any help and inquiries if there are any offers to work abroad,” she said.

Fenny said the supposed offer of a big salary may be a factor in luring young Sarawakians to work abroad.

She stressed that there is no reason for these young people to work overseas when Sarawak has a lot of job opportunities available, adding that they need to take advantage of these opportunities and choose jobs according to their academic qualifications and not be deceived by job offers from overseas without any investigation.

"For example, there are many Peruvians who are jobless and many of them work in other countries, so why do we from Sarawak have to accept the offers from this country?” she asked.

Fenny said Wan Junaidi also expressed his concerns with young Sarawakians becoming victims of overseas job scams, adding that the governor once joined a Malaysian delegation to rescue victims from Sarawak who had fallen victim to a job scam syndicate in Cambodia a few years ago.

She said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to hold an awareness talk with university students such as Universiti Malaysia Sarawak in May and Universiti Teknologi Mara on international diplomacy issues as well as sharing her personal experiences in the mission of rescuing victims of employment fraud syndicates of Malaysians in particular and Sarawak in general.