MAPUTO, Aug 30, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sixteen Mozambican nationals trafficked to Laos and forced to work in slave-like conditions have been rescued and returned to their country, the UN's migration body said Friday.

The two women and 14 men were recruited with false promises of salaries of more than 100,000 meticais ($1,565), said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) which helped get them home.

Instead they were forced into difficult jobs in coal mines or cutting bamboo in remote areas, and their passports were confiscated, it said.

"While many never received any wages, those who were paid earned only a fraction of what they had been promised," the IOM said on its website.

Some had been stranded since mid-2024 and others since early 2025.

The Mozambique government said it was working with the IOM and Laos authorities to trace seven other Mozambicans it believed were in similar conditions of forced labour in the southeast Asian country.

While Mozambique is rich in natural resources, most of its people are poor and underemployed, leading many to seek work outside of the southern African country.