KUALA LUMPUR, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Some 47 Malaysians who had been stranded in Cambodia returned home on Sunday following an agreement between the two governments.
After being stranded since late last year, they arrived in three batches at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), according to the state news agency Bernama.
All of them were from the eastern Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. They claimed that they had gone to Cambodia after being offered lucrative salaries, instead they were confined to several houses by those who had lured them to the country after paying fees to secure jobs and for travel arrangements.
However, they were reported to have been held by the Cambodian authorities for allegedly cheating, opening and conducting illegal online gambling activities.
Their plight was brought to the attention of the Malaysian foreign ministry, which secured their release and facilitated their return in a series of negotiations.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had earlier thanked the Cambodian government for granting special approval to free the Malaysians.
