Pressure mounts on Cambodia over human trafficking
Hong Kong citizens also feared trafficked into online scams in Southeast Asian country
By Luke Hunt
Published: August 19, 2022 08:09 AM GMT

Hong Kong has been added to a growing list of Asian countries and territories that fear their citizens have been trafficked into Cambodia, where they are held against their will and forced to work online scams for organized Chinese crime syndicates.

Travel warnings and a media campaign warning Hong Kong residents of the risks in traveling to Cambodia are also a consideration by the Chinese territory after immigration officials revealed that 17 people had been trafficked across Southeast Asia.

“It’s rare to issue travel warnings because of this sort of situation,” legislator Elizabeth Quat told Radio Television Hong Kong.

“I think the Security Bureau can consider issuing travel warnings and even if it can't, officials need to step up publicity online and in different media to advise people to stay alert,” she said.

Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan and China, as well as a long list of human rights groups have warned of major trafficking rings luring their citizens to Cambodia and Myanmar with fake promises of well-paid jobs.

The overwhelming majority have found themselves in Sihanoukville, a notoriously lawless port city on Cambodia’s south coast, where they are forced to work online scams involving gambling, cryptocurrencies and romance scams, among others, for up to 20 hours a day.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/pressure-m ... king/98458

JOB SCAM/67 arrested on Southeast Asia human trafficking-related charges: police
08/19/2022 10:17 PM
Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) A total of 67 people in Taiwan have so far been arrested for involvement in international human trafficking operations, some for posting fake job advertisements to dupe Taiwanese into working for fraud rings in Southeast Asia, of which 22 were detained, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Friday.

Most of the human trafficking-related cases are Cambodia-based, said NPA Director-General Huang Ming-chao (黃明昭), adding that it is believed 208 Taiwanese remain held against their will in the country, among a total of 4,679 Taiwanese nationals who recently traveled there but have not yet returned.

Huang also said it is believed 42 Taiwanese gangs are involved in the human trafficking operations, most affiliated with the Bamboo Union, the largest of the country's criminal triads.

So far, Taiwan's police have received 420 related case reports and 46 alleged victims have since returned from Cambodia, the Ministry of the Interior said.
https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202208190024

Meanwhile, officials in Cambodia claim that the "Great Escape" of 40 Vietnamese workers from a Cambodian Chinese-run casino was due to a simple labour dispute, and therefore had nothing to do with any cyber-slavery or human trafficking.

Cambodia, VN police team up on casino case
Lay Samean | Publication date 21 August 2022 | 20:14 ICT
Cambodian police are cooperating with their Vietnamese counterparts to search for more than 40 Vietnamese staffers who broke through a door to escape from their casino in Kandal province’s Koh Thom district.

Provincial governor Kong Sophorn said on August 21 that they fled the Golden Phoenix Entertainment Casino, located in Chrey Thom commune, on August 18 due to a labour dispute. He said police were looking into whether they were legally employed.

“Along with specialists from the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Immigration, our investigations are ongoing,” he said.

A casino supervisor and several staff members have been detained for questioning following the incident, which saw the more than 40 employees swim across the Chrey Thom River to Vietnam.

“The river is just 40m wide, so they escaped back into Vietnam. We are cooperating with Vietnamese authorities so we can sit them down and ask them some questions.

“Swimming across the border is not a huge offence, but we want to understand the nature of the employment dispute. We have very progressive labour laws here in Cambodia, and we may be able to seek justice for them,” he said.

Sophorn added that two security guards from the casino had received treatment for wounds, suffered as they attempted to stop the employees leaving.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... asino-case

Username Taken wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 7:31 am

Clutch Cargo wrote: ↑Mon Aug 22, 2022 7:07 am ^^
That must have been some 'simple labour dispute' with their employer if they had to break down a door to 'escape' from their casino employment, swim across a 40m river and cross the border back to their own country..

“Swimming across the border is not a huge offence, but we want to understand the nature of the employment dispute. We have very progressive labour laws here in Cambodia, and we may be able to seek justice for them,” he said.

He said police were looking into whether they were legally employed.

This might explain things better..

You forgot to mention the security guards who 'attempted to stop the employees leaving'. They must have a policy about 'employees' leaving the workplace early.

Good thing there are "progresive" labour laws or smeone might have been killed!

At some point those in charge at the very top must realise that the reputational damage, and actual financial damage in lost tourism, will far outweigh the kickbacks they get for allowing this to carry on.

There may come a day when the body count of the missing and/or dead citizens will hit a number when one of these countries will stop playing nice and take direct action against the government of Cambodia in the form of sanctions.

Stopping direct flights, banning all Cambodian travel, massive shorting of the KHR to break their cushy US$/KHR peg. There are lots of options and it could be very loud and clear with pointing of fingers at the 'first family'.

When Cambodia and Myanmar are directly compared in terms of lawlessness**, and you are in charge, you have a serious reputational problem.

They can't be that stupid, surely?

**

Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan and China, as well as a long list of human rights groups have warned of major trafficking rings luring their citizens to Cambodia and Myanmar with fake promises of well-paid jobs.

Well, the casino manager has now admitted to "forcing the group to work against their will" ... but the "escapees owed the company money". Sounds like indentured servitude to me!

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/cambo ... 02432.html

Cambodia inspects foreigners in trafficking purge
By Luke Hunt
Published: August 22, 2022 05:03 AM GMT

Cambodian authorities have begun inspecting every foreigner in a bid to thwart human traffickers blamed for luring thousands of Asians into this country, but were held in fortified compounds and forced to work a range of online rackets.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng also said missions had been launched to rescue victims and arrest human traffickers with operations staged in the provinces of Kandal, bordering Vietnam, and Preah Sihanouk on the south coast. The order was given amid mounting international pressure.

“Although we have achieved many good results, we are confronted with several other challenges we must continue to address together,” he told a meeting of an interministerial working group of the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking.

Inspections began as Indonesia chartered a plane and flew home 202 of its citizens who were rescued last week from different parts of Cambodia, where they worked in online gambling and call centers mainly for Chinese crime syndicates.

Online gambling was banned here in August 2019 but reports say people from across the region are being trafficked into casinos where the practice continues underground alongside telecom fraud that involves dodgy investments, cryptocurrencies and romance scams.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/cambodia-i ... urge/98473