BANGKOK, Thailand – Thai and Cambodian officials agreed Tuesday (June 17th) to quash "rumours" of a crackdown on illegal migrant workers following the exodus of nearly 180,000 Cambodian labourers, AFP reported.

The migrants returned home en masse after Thailand's military regime warned last week that illegal foreign workers face arrest and deportation.

The junta has since insisted there is no "crackdown" and blamed false rumours for the exodus of what could be, by some estimates, the entire undocumented Cambodian population in Thailand.

"We need to work closely together to allay fear among the Cambodian labourers in Thailand," said Cambodian ambassador Eat Sophea on Tuesday, after talks with Thai officials. It is not the Thai administration's policy to "crack down on labourers regardless of their (legal) status", she said.