In debt, out of work
They save for months, borrowing from family and friends, even taking out loans, to pour as much as a year’s worth of earnings into the hands of recruiters that may have no intention and certainly have no guarantee of procuring overseas employment. Recruitment agencies, several of which have already earned the industry a dubious reputation for engaging in human trafficking, forced labour and other human rights violations, have found another way to exploit the thousands of Cambodians desperate to cash in on neighbouring Thailand’s labour shortage. The firms, only some of which operate under a legal licence, charge workers fees of up to $750, allegedly to arrange travel documents and transportation, and then tell the workers to wait as a placement is arranged. “They wait one month, six months and then 12 months. The company says ‘just be patient; we are waiting also’. But later, when the workers call, they have switched off their phone. When they try to visit, the company has moved,” said Moeun Tola, head of the labour program at the Community Legal Education Center. He said the centre has logged a dozen complaints this year, and believes the sham is increasingly common – a suspicion confirmed by several other organisations noting the same trend. …
Laignee Barron and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/debt-out-work
