"Police Locate 56 Foreign Trafficking Victims in Phnom Penh, Arrest Two Suspects", 18 January 2024

The General Department of Immigration arrested two Bangladeshi citizens on human trafficking charges …, following a search of two locations in Phnom Penh. Authorities also found 51 Bangladeshis victims, four Indian victims and one Sri Lankan victim.

Sok Veasna, director general of immigration, told … that authorities received a complaint … about the situation, and also received a complaint from the Bangladeshi Embassy. Officials continue to search for four other foreign suspects in the case.

“[The two arrested] are suspected of illegal human trafficking while crossing the border in and out of Cambodia,” he said. “For the victims, we are facilitating their return to their home countries. We have sent them to the Ministry of Social Affairs, which is cooperating with an NGO to house them.”

The victims were handed over to the NGO Caritas Cambodia, according to a … post on the General Department of Immigration’s Facebook page, which is no longer visible as of Thursday. The two locations officials searched were a hotel in Wat Phnom, Daun Penh district as well as another guesthouse in Phnom Penh.

… Most appeared to be in their 20s and sometimes he saw them talking on their phones. Use of force is just one means of trafficking, according to the UN, and human traffickers can also use deception, coercion, or abuse of power or position of vulnerability to exploit people for profit…

The embassies of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka did not respond to emailed requests for comment…