Egypt and Qatar assure Thailand of help in securing release of Thai hostages
The leaders of Egypt and Qatar have promised help to secure the release of Thai workers held hostage by Hamas, Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-nukara said after a visit to the two Arab countries.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Friday that continuous efforts were being made to assist Thai workers in Israel.
The government is closely monitoring the Israel-Hamas conflict to ensure the safe evacuation of Thai citizens as soon as the situation permits, Srettha said.
Srettha revealed that on Thursday Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had informed him that 12 Thai workers from one group and another 8 workers from a different group were currently being relocated to the same location. Concurrently, efforts are being made to determine the whereabouts of the remaining 2-3 workers.
Srettha expressed his gratitude to Anwar and indicated that his Malaysian counterpart would keep him informed in case of further progress.
Srettha said the government would keep aircraft ready even though there are currently no signals that more Thai citizens in Israel intend to return. This proactive step is taken to establish flight routes in the event that there is a necessity to evacuate Thai citizens from countries other than Israel, he said.
Foreign Minister Parnpree, who is also the deputy prime minister, said he had met the leaders of Qatar and Egypt during his official visit to the two countries. He said the purpose of these meetings was to coordinate with Hamas and its network for the release of Thai workers who are being held as hostages. The leaders of these countries expressed surprise at the presence of Thai workers in Israel, as they had initially thought that these workers were engaged in business activities, Parnpree said.
Parnpree said he had clarified that these Thai workers were predominantly involved in agricultural labour to sustain their low-income families and were not engaged in political activities or involved in the conflict.
The officials expressed their surprise about the situation and expressed their willingness to engage in discussions with Hamas to provide full assistance to Thailand, he said.
Parnpree also requested the officials to keep the Thai embassies in their countries informed about the progress in securing the release of the workers, so that they could make preparations to expedite their repatriation.
