"Bangladeshi’s tricked into forced labour in Cambodia", 9 March 2020

An investigative by the Bangladeshi government has revealed that over 100 Bangladeshi workers are in a forced labour condition in Cambodia.

Those Bangladeshi workers were trafficked to Cambodia on Sticker/Stamp visas showing them as tourists or visitors by Bangladeshi recruiting agencies and their brokers based in Dhaka, Singapore and Bangkok, the investigation, carried out by the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment revealed.

Some of the trafficking victims returned to Bangladesh after suffering their ordeals and the others were in Cambodia in difficult conditions, said EWOE Ministry officials.

Brokers allegedly collected visit visa stamps from the Cambodian embassies in India, Singapore, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Australia and hired the workers of Bangladesh alluring them with good jobs in Cambodia, they said...

The team found that Bangladeshi national Moin Uddin and Singapore national, identified only as Khoo, opened a construction company called EC Builders in Cambodia and recruited over 100 workers from Bangladesh with Sticker/Stamp visas showing them as tourists, visitors and businessmen.

As owners of the EC Builder failed to provide the workers legal documents, the workers lodged complaints to Cambodian police who shut down the company’s office, said the probe report of the EWOE Ministry.

Victims Pangkaj Biswas, Rabindranath Kundu, Zakir and Mohan informed the EWOE Ministry team that Bangladeshi recruiting agency Port City International Limited owner Abdur Rahman took Tk three to four lakh from each victim and sent them to Cambodia after keeping them waiting for one year...