Cambodia on Friday said it is attempting to aid foreigners who have been conned by human traffickers, after Taiwan said it is seeking to free more than 300 of its citizens who were lured to the Southeast Asian nation by organized crime groups.
The mostly well-educated young people were promised high wages for tech jobs, but were then forced to work in call centers, scamming mainly Chinese into making payments for non-existent government fees or investment opportunities.
Cambodian Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng said his ministry is launching a nationwide check of all foreigners living in Cambodia, aside from embassy personnel.
Photo: Bloomberg
It would search especially for foreigners who have been victimized by human traffickers, he said.
Police in two provinces, Kandal and Preah Sihanouk, on Thursday checked the status of foreigners residing or working at hotels, rented properties and casinos, Sar Kheng said, adding that several people were arrested on suspicion of organizing human trafficking and some apparent victims were taken into protection.
Police were still trying to determine whether those who said they were victims were telling the truth, he said.
Sar Kheng did not specify how many people were rounded up or what their nationalities were, but confirmed that some foreigners told police that they had been attracted by what were portrayed as lawful jobs offering high salaries.
However, upon arriving in Cambodia, they were forced to work illegally in jobs that were “not what they had agreed to,” Sar Kheng said.
Taiwan on Friday said 333 of its citizens were stuck in Cambodia after being lured by crime groups promising high wages for tech jobs, based on reports from families asking for help.
The situation is complicated further because Cambodia is a close ally of China and refuses to recognize Taiwan or have any official contacts with the government in Taipei.
Taiwanese media have been reporting extensively on the plight of those trapped by the networks. Police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have been patrolling with signs warning of the dangers of bogus offers of high salaries in Southeast Asia.
In related news, dozens of Vietnamese casino workers allegedly forced to toil without pay in Cambodia have fled back to their homeland by swimming across a river, authorities in Phnom Penh said.
About 40 staff at the Golden Phoenix Entertainment Casino in Kandal Province — which neighbors Vietnam — fought off security guards to escape, leaving one missing after being swept away by the current, Vietnamese state media reported.
“These people might have been here working illegally,” Sar Kheng said. “They were promised salaries, but they did not get what they were promised... They crossed back to Vietnam because they could not reach a deal. They fled the place.”
He said Cambodian police had detained a casino manager and were investigating the incident.
One 20-year-old woman said casino security guards attacked the group with batons and iron sticks as they tried to flee.
“Our four months being cheated while working at a casino in Cambodia were like hell,” she told the VnExpress news site, adding that she was forced to work 14-hour days.
“If I did not do it, I would be beaten to death,” she said.
Vietnamese police colonel Dinh Van Noi said the 35 men and five women had been questioned and tested for COVID-19 after crossing the Binh Di River, which acts as a natural border and is 70m wide at its narrowest point.
He told state media the group were forced to work long hours at the casino and were not paid what they were owed.
Additional reporting by AFP
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
RSS