Human trafficking

Cambodia remains on a watch list at the US State Department, for failing to do enough to combat human trafficking. In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department kept Cambodia a “tier 2” country. ...

Cambodian human trafficking authorities charged a Chinese national on Thursday with attempting to illegally transport 18 men to work in China in what one government official said was the first such case of trafficking Cambodian men to the country. ...

Another group of 33 Cambodian laborers, who were trafficked to work as illegal fishermen on fishing boats in Indonesia, returned home on Tuesday afternoon, Xinhua quoted Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said. ...

Amid numerous reports of Cambodian women being trafficked to China and men being used as forced labor on fishing boats, the U.S.’ latest Trafficking in Persons report again said Cambodia is not doing enough to combat human trafficking. ...

For the third straight year in a row, Cambodia has found itself on the Tier 2 Watch List of the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report, a ranking reflective of a seeming inability to fully implement the country’s own anti-trafficking plan. ...

When hundreds of fishermen were rescued from a life of slavery on Thai fishing boats off the coast of Indonesia earlier this year, the world took notice. ...

Cambodian authorities must cooperate with Thailand to reform illegal fishing practices there, a lawmaker says. The governments of Cambodia and Thailand “have not been talking seriously to put strict conditions” on labor practices, she said. “They tend to deal with the problem case by casewith ...

The International Justice Mission (IJM) yesterday lauded Cambodia’s progress in tackling the child sex trade but stressed more needed to be done, including authorising police to use undercover investigation techniques. ...

Five families whose daughters were illegally trafficked to Malaysia to serve as domestic workers earlier this year are seeking their safe return after receiving word of the mistreatment they are being made to endure, rights group Adhoc said yesterday. ...

Three Chinese nationals were jailed by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday for attempting to smuggle four teenage Cambodian girls to China, while the sentences of two Cambodians involved in the trafficking operation were reduced to time served. ...

Three Cambodian women were repatriated this weekend after being duped by brokers and sent to into inhumane circumstances abroad, including forced marriage and unpaid labour, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ...

The Board of Trade of Thailand and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, along with four fishing-industry associations and leading players in the sector, vowed Tuesday to continue strenuous efforts to solve the problem of human trafficking and other labour issues, in compliance with the government’s ...

More than 200 Cambodians who were victims of human traffickers and endured years of hardship on Thai fishing boats returned home on Thursday, according to the Cambodian government. ...

A gathering of some 50 youths from five different provinces met in Phnom Penh last week to discuss the problems of forced migration and its dangers. The Community Youth Network leaders came from provinces where migrant work is common, to discuss how to make it ...

Sitting with downcast eyes and the rough hands of hard labor, Thin Seangly stands as a warning for thousands of other impoverished Cambodians who want to seek better jobs and wages overseas. ...

When Roeun Hen would try to take a break from his 20-hour shift trawling Indonesian waters for fish, his Thai captain would pummel him, kicking and punching the 29-year-old until he returned to work. ...

While mental health services are crucial to the recovery process for the Kingdom’s victims of human trafficking, stigma and limited resources remain a barrier in the provision of and access to those services, according to a new study published yesterday. The research, published in the International ...

At least 58 Cambodians were among the more than 300 enslaved fishermen recently rescued from a remote island in Indonesia’s Maluku province, an intergovernmental migration body said Tuesday. ...

Nineteen Cambodian men were repatriated Sunday morning after being rescued by Indonesian authorities from slavery on Thai fishing boats, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong. ...

The Kompong Cham Provincial Court on Wednesday charged two women with human trafficking for allegedly luring five other women to China with promises of jobs, only to force them into marriage. ...

Thailand’s National Assembly has passed amendments to anti-trafficking laws with harsh penalties. The legislation comes as American media reports put spotlight on slave-like conditions on Thai fishing vessels triggering calls for Thailand to crack down on labor exploitation, especially in the seafood industry. ...

Anti-human trafficking police arrested a woman Wednesday after they discovered she was running an unlicensed training center in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district that promised to send students to work in Japan or South Korea after paying for courses, an official said Thursday. ...

A Cambodian couple “trafficked” to work in Malaysia returned home Friday morning after being “rescued” by the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, a government official said yesterday. ...

Survivors of human trafficking in South-East Asia require better access to health services, especially related to mental health, a study says. ...