Thirty Bangladeshis Return Home After Escaping Cambodia Scam Centres and Weeks in Immigration Detention
PHNOM PENH — Thirty Bangladeshis who had escaped alleged scam centres in Cambodia returned home on October 20 after being released from an immigration detention centre, The Business Standard reported. They arrived in Dhaka at 12:10 p.m. aboard Thai Airways flight TG-321, according to a statement by Anirban Survivor Voice Foundation, a rights group that works with trafficking victims.
The returnees were among 32 Bangladeshis detained by Cambodian immigration police at Phnom Penh airport on September 3 as they attempted to return home through the procedures prescribed by Cambodian authorities. Two were subsequently released, while the remaining 30 were held at an immigration detention centre over alleged illegal stays and other immigration-related complications. The Wage Earners' Welfare Board, under Bangladesh's expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry, had written to the labour wing of the Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok seeking steps to secure their release and repatriation.
The group had allegedly been taken to Cambodia by brokers with promises of lucrative salaries. After arriving, many were reportedly forced to work at scam centres engaging in cyber scams and other online fraud, and those who tried to escape allegedly faced abuse. After escaping, the group went to Phnom Penh airport on September 3 to return to Bangladesh.
Scam compounds in Cambodia have long drawn regional concern. Earlier this month, a US Treasury official said Washington was working with the Cambodian government to dismantle scam networks, and Prime Minister Hun Manet called for regional cooperation against online fraud.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 金边王宫旁的 Preah Ang Dorngkeu 神龛。图片：© Anilakeo / CC BY-SA 3.0，Wikimedia Commons
