ANI
19 Jun 2021, 23:18 GMT+10
Beijing [China], June 19 (ANI): Chinese nationals are trafficking Vietnamese citizens to work in Cambodian casinos, officials said, adding that they were offered these jobs online and were often assaulted when they tried to escape. Vietnamese officials warned that the citizens of Vietnam are being lured into migrating to Cambodia, sometimes illegally, with attractive but often fraudulent offers to work in casinos and online gaming establishments, reported South China Morning Post.
Last week, the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia highlighted the risks of trafficking, noting both the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and the difficulty of controlling the porous border between the two countries.
In a Facebook post, the Vietnamese embassy urged its citizens to be vigilant about suspicious advertisements for jobs offering between USD 800 and USD 1,000 a month.
"According to [victims], we found out that the operation to entice and bring Vietnamese people to Cambodia is led by a number of Chinese people, with the participation of both Vietnamese and Cambodians,'' SCMP quoted the embassy as saying.
"After the victims agree to the job, criminal groups will arrange for them to go to Cambodia ... [where they] will be brought to hotels or casinos that are concentrated in Sihanoukville," the embassy added, noting that the targets were subsequently trained to find and entice potential customers for online gambling, which has been banned in Cambodia since 2019.
Sihanoukville, which has received massive Chinese investment in recent years, has emerged as one of the primary destinations for labour trafficking, SCMP reported. However, the Chinese embassy in Cambodia had also flagged concerns about trafficking related to online gambling, releasing a statement last September warning that Chinese citizens were being smuggled into Cambodia from Vietnam and elsewhere to work in illegal sectors.
The Vietnamese embassy's Facebook post also detailed how victims were closely monitored and forced to work 16 hours a day. Many were physically assaulted when they tried to escape. The victims who refused to work and wanted to return to Vietnam were beaten and forced to take on debts between USD 1,000 and USD 8,000 or were sold to another company.
Kristin Parco, chief mission of the UN's International Organization for Migration in Cambodia, said reduced wages, job losses and the increased reliance on the internet, among other pandemic effects, have created a "fertile recruitment ground for traffickers".
"Covid-19 has created new vulnerabilities as well as exacerbated existing ones and increased risks of exploitation of individuals and communities to trafficking networks," she said.
"Traffickers have adjusted their business models by exploiting modern communications technologies. Online trafficking and exploitation have evidently spiked since the beginning of the pandemic in the region," she added. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Malaysia Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Malaysia Sun.
More InformationQUETTA, Pakistan - The terrorist attacks in Mastung and Hangu have been vehemently denounced by the international community, including the ...
SHAN STATE, Myanmar - According to a military source and a representative of a local rescue organization, a bomb explosion ...
DHAKA, Bangladesh - According to U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas, addressing Dhaka's air quality problem is essential for public ...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - According to a high-ranking government official who briefed a parliamentary panel on Wednesday, although Pakistan has accelerated ...
KATHMANDU, Nepal - On Thursday, the National Human Rights Commission expressed its grave concern over attacks and mistreatment of medical ...
Islamabad [Pakistan], October 1 (ANI): Balochistan observed a nationwide "shutter down" strike in protest of the Mastung suicide blast that ...
SACRAMENTO, California: Fast food workers will now receive $20 per hour in California, after the governor signed a fast food ...
BEIJING, China: In a deal worth US$10 billion at list prices this week, state-owned carrier China Eastern Airlines announced that ...
BEIJING, China: This week, China Evergrande Group said its founder and chairman, Hui Ka Yan, is being investigated over suspected ...
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, California: In his opening statement this week in the first U.S. trial over allegations that a car autopilot ...
SEATTLE, Washington: As part of Washington's efforts to stop Big Tech from monopolizing the most lucrative parts of the internet, ...
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: As part of Riyadh's efforts to further Saudi Arabia's electrification drive, electric vehicle (EV) maker Lucid announced ...