Human trafficking in Cambodia: A problem that’s as wicked as the issue - Khmer Times

What was rampant was not the trade of humans for the purpose of sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation, providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues. What was at issue is forced labour in the form of employment scams involving syndicates, almost all of which are run by foreigners. These syndicates will lure people from other countries with incredible job offers into Cambodia and trapped them to work in their criminal operations, from online gambling to call centres to scam people within and outside the country. Many of these workers, once in the clutches of the syndicates, work in torrid conditions and in fear for their lives. Khmer Times’ coverage, the first of which was on a Chinese company detaining workers in Sihanoukville, has seen more and more cases unveiled in the past months and today it is an issue that has drawn the eyes of the world to the Kingdom. Numerous reports on either crackdowns or rescued operations have mad

What was rampant was not the trade of humans for the purpose of sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation, providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues. What was at issue is forced labour in the form of employment scams involving syndicates, almost all of which are run by foreigners. These syndicates will lure people from other countries with incredible job offers into Cambodia and trapped them to work in their criminal operations, from online gambling to call centres to scam people within and outside the country. Many of these workers, o

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• Hong Anh Pham