Bhubaneswar, March 7: The National Human Rights Commission’s (NHRC) suo motu intervention has resulted in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) acting swiftly in getting rescued six migrant workers from Odisha facing torture in captivity by their employer in a plywood firm in Thailand since last six months.

Out of the six migrant workers, four were repatriated to India the very next day of the NHRC communication to the MEA on February 20. They reached Kolkata by a flight booked by their employer from Bangkok.

The MEA's Southern Division has informed that it is pursuing the matter of repatriation of the remaining two rescued workers with the Thai immigration authorities as they had overstayed their visa.

It may be recalled that on February 20, the Commission had sought the comments of the MEA whether they could render any assistance to the families of the six captive workers after taking cognizance of a media report. Moving promptly on receiving the NHRC communication, the MEA’s Southern Division sent a request to the Thai authorities to rescue them and also contacted the owner of the company, where the six workers were reportedly working.

The media had reported about a video on February 17 wherein the workers from Kendrapara district of Odisha had recorded their plight. They were being held captive and subjected to physical as well as mental torture by their employer inside a factory in an area near Bangkok. They were forced to work for 12 hours a day in a plywood factory without any salary and proper food. Reportedly, their employer had also confiscated their passports.