24 more Malaysians rescued from Cambodia

Malaysia has joined other ASEAN countries in managing to extract victims of human traffickers from Cambodia. News reports in recent months from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and other nations have described how Chinese gangs operating in Cambodia lured foreigners with the promise of high-paying jobs only to confiscate their passports and force them to work in casinos or boiler room scams aimed at defrauding their fellow countrymen.  Those who refused to work were reportedly abused and their families forced to pay huge sums to gain their elease.

From the Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s foreign minister on Friday brought 24 Malaysians back from Cambodia who were rescued from human traffickers, out of a total of 148 citizens he said have been reported missing in the country.

Saifuddin Abdullah said 65 of the 148 missing Malaysians were rescued and brought home earlier, and 29 others are still at immigration centers in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville and will be sent home when their paperwork and investigations are completed. Another 30 remain missing, officials said..

The Malaysians, mostly young people, were lured by fake offers of high-paid work in Cambodia and ended up in the hands of human traffickers and were trapped there, he said.

Saifuddin didn’t provide details on how the 24 people who returned Friday were tricked into going to Cambodia or how long they were trapped. The victims, who appeared at a news conference with Saifuddin, were mostly masked and didn’t speak to reporters.

Saifuddin said such job scams are not unique to Cambodia and have been reported in other places, including South Africa. About 500 Malaysian companies operate in Cambodia, and 5,000 Malaysians work or do business safely there, he said.

“What is most important is that they are coming back to Malaysia today safe and sound. We do not want to go into the details,” Saifuddin said. “There is no guarantee we can stop it (job scams) but we will try our level best.”