The 92 Vietnamese citizens handed over to Vietnamese authorities from Cambodia at Mộc Bài International Border Gate on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tân

TÂY NINH — Border guards of the south-eastern province of Tây Ninh received 92 Vietnamese nationals who were handed over by Cambodian authorities at Mộc Bài International Border Gate on Wednesday.

They were then taken to Mộc Bài Border Station for identity verification.

They include 71 Vietnamese tricked into working for a casino named Lucky 88 in Bavet City, Cambodia’s Svay Rieng Province, along with 21 Vietnamese citizens without identity documents.

It was reported that 60 Vietnamese people collectively ran away from the casino at Bavet Kandal Hamlet, near a border checkpoint leading to Tây Ninh’s Mộc Bài border gate, four days ago. Four of them were caught by the casino’s guards.

Among 56 people who made successful escape, 15 were without any identity paper.

Cambodian police later requested the casino to release 15 more Vietnamese nationals, raising the total number of Vietnamese involving in the incident to 71.

It is the second mass escape of Vietnamese workers from a casino in Cambodia within a month, following the fleeing of over 41 Vietnamese citizens on August 18, who claimed they were treated badly and forced to work long overtime without pay.

On hearing the news, the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia has promptly contacted Cambodian authorities to find out the facts and take legal steps to bring the Vietnamese workers home while asking Cambodia to intervene and rescue any remaining workers.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed the embassy to provide the people with all necessities when procedures are being proceeded to bring them back to Việt Nam. — VNS