Tears as Thai workers held captive in Gaza go home

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Tears as Thai workers held captive in Gaza go home

Five Thai nationals held captive by ****** for more than a year have returned to Thailand to be greeted by their tearful families.

The returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with emotional embraces from their families on Sunday at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport..

“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees.

“I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”

****** militants abducted at least 240 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in an October 2023 attack on the Israeli border.

During the attack, ****** gunmen killed 41 Thais and kidnapped 30 Thai labourers. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.

Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who escorted the hostages back from Israel, expressed relief at their return.

“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said.

“We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”

Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai labourers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9000 Thais were repatriated following the attack.

The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.

Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by ******.

“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two workers who were killed.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Tears #Thai #workers #held #captive #Gaza #home

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up