“One of our taukehs (bosses) failed to strike a business deal so he fled and left us,” said Enyang anak Ato, 66, who was among those stranded in the Liberian capital Monrovia.
Enyang, from Kapit, Sarawak, said the man, a businessman from Sibu, shared a sum of RM30,000 with another man from Selangau to open up a logging camp.
“We went there about two months ago with the taukeh. He was with us for a week before he fled after failing to strike a deal there,” Enyang told reporters after lodging a report at Sibu Airport police post last night.
Besides Enyang, the others who were stranded were Aji anak Surau, Bon anak Egat, Sallim Tahir, Suhaili Gani, Gawan anak Masin, Untol anak Luyang, and Dingai anak Nyalak, all aged between 39 and 66.
They were not conversant in English, which they said made it difficult for them to communicate with locals in Monrovia.
“Luckily, there were Malaysians in Liberia working with Sime Darby who came to know of our plight and gave us rice,” Enyang said.
The eight who arrived from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) were accompanied by Bandar Kuching MP Kelvin Yii and greeted by DAP and PKR members from Sibu and Selangau.
Ros anak Anyie, wife of Dingai, thanked the Malaysian government for bringing back her husband.
“It never happened to my husband before. This was the third time that he went abroad to work,” said Ros, who learnt about her husband’s ordeal a few weeks ago.
The mother of two said her husband told her he just wanted to work abroad for another year before deciding on his future job.
“I hope he works locally instead of going abroad,” she said.
Sallim’s wife, Majenah Jeni, 37, said her husband had worked in Africa twice before this without facing any difficulties.
“Now that he has safely returned, I feel relieved,” she said.
Wisma Putra said concerted diplomatic and consular efforts had resulted in the successful repatriation of the stranded Malaysians.
These included a letter sent by Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah to his Liberian counterpart Gbehzohgar M Findley, requesting assistance for repatriation.
This is the second incident involving Malaysians stranded abroad, after 47 Malaysians who were victims of a job scam were freed from a Cambodian prison.