Thirty Bangladeshi workers who were held in a Cambodian immigration detention centre after escaping online scam compounds returned to Dhaka on Tuesday, landing at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at about 12:15pm on Thai Airways flight TG-321.

The group had travelled to Cambodia through brokers who promised well-paid jobs. According to their accounts and to officials, many were confined in cyber scam centres and forced to carry out online fraud, and some reported being tortured when they tried to leave.

Cambodia later offered them a chance to return home without paying fines, and the workers registered for repatriation. They reached Phnom Penh airport on 3 September, but immigration police detained 32 of them during checks over irregular status and other complications. Two were released soon afterwards and the remaining 30 were sent to the Immigration Detention Centre.

The Anirban Survivor Voice Foundation appealed on their behalf. The Wage Earners' Welfare Board then asked the first secretary of the labour wing at the Bangladesh embassy in Bangkok to secure their release and arrange a swift return.

Bangladesh has no embassy in Cambodia, so its mission in Bangkok handles consular work for the country. The workers were freed after the required procedures were completed in stages, and they flew home on Tuesday.

Families and migrant rights groups have repeatedly warned that brokers are sending Bangladeshis to Cambodia with promises of office jobs, only for them to be held in scam compounds. The government has been trying to bring back other workers stranded in the country.