KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — A mother is appealing to the authorities to help rescue her daughter who has been stranded in Myanmar since last year and whom she believes is a victim of a human trafficking syndicate.

The woman known only as Risdawati, 42, said she managed to contact her eldest daughter, aged 17, last year and was told that she needed to pay US$10,000 (RM42,000) in cash supposedly to cover the cost of bringing the girl home from Myanmar.

According to Risdawati, who lives in Penang, her daughter was promised a one-year contract to work in a company in Myanmar and was informed that she would be able to return home at the end of the contract.

"However, after the contract ended, my daughter was not allowed to return. The company cheated and threatened us to pay a sum of money, amounting to US$10,000, supposedly to cover the cost of bringing her home from Myanmar,” said Risdawati in a press conference here yesterday.

Also present at the press conference was Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim.

Commenting further, Risdawati said her daughter had wanted to work in Singapore after finishing school but was prevented from doing so by her father who was worried for her safety.

"However, she (daughter) was allowed to work in Johor at the middle of last year and stayed with her aunt for about two weeks before we lost contact with her. We believe she was taken to Myanmar using rat routes from Thailand,” she also said.

Risdawati added that two police reports were lodged on Oct 25 last year and Sept 25 this year, and she hoped the authorities would rescue her daughter and bring her home.

Meanwhile, Hishamuddin said his team is actively trying to rescue the victim based on the law and advised the victim’s family not to pay any ransom and discouraged them from frequently contacting the victim to reduce risk to the victim’s safety. — Bernama