by Matt Blomberg
Thursday, 28 May 2020

More than 2 million Cambodians - about half of them undocumented - are thought to be working in Thailand,

With borders still closed to the public and regular avenues of recruitment shut down, "local brokers" are exploiting a section of the population that is drowning in debt and becoming increasingly desperate, human rights groups said.

"The brokers, they know the illegal channels, they have the networks on both sides of the border - this is a golden opportunity for them," said Dy Thehoya, senior program officer at the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights.

Once in Thailand, Cambodians can be exploited by brokers and employers, who charge exorbitant prices for transport, documents and job placement. Many become trapped in debt bondage.

Kristin Parco, who heads the United Nations migration agency in Cambodia, said the need to service ballooning debt was the primary factor pushing Cambodians into unsafe migration.

At about $3,800, Cambodia's average microloan debt per borrower is the highest in the world, and more than double the average annual salary. "It's the same reason they migrated in the first place," Parco said.

full https://news.trust.org/item/20200528105049-dyng2/

54 Cambodian migrants arrested in Sa Kaeo
May 29. 2020
By THE NATION
Fifty-four Cambodian nationals were arrested at the Thai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo’s Ta Phraya district for allegedly entering the country illegally.

“The group was led by La Peun, 46, a Cambodian national, who brought 53 Cambodian workers -- 32 males and 21 females -- across the border,” Ta Phraya Police Station said on Thursday (May 28). “The suspect confessed that he had collected Bt3,000 from each worker as a fee for bringing them across the border,” police said.
https://www.nationthailand.com/news/303 ... l_referral