Taiwan estimates 333 victims of human trafficking are still in Cambodia | Taiwan News
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A total of 40 Taiwanese victims of human trafficking returned home from Cambodia, but 333 people are still waiting to be rescued, the government said on Thursday (August 18).
Dozens of Taiwanese were lured to the Southeast Asian country by the promise of high-paying jobs, but were forced to work illegally while making it difficult to escape, accompanied by human traffickers.
After its weekly meeting, the cabinet said that after a March-July survey and interviews with 4,679 households, it concluded that a total of 373 people had been tricked into taking high-paying jobs that did not exist in Cambodia, CNA reported. .
The government said it had assisted 40 people to return to Taiwan, but 333 remained in the Southeast Asian country, awaiting help to leave. About 99% of people are forced into electronic fraud, and only a small percentage are forced into the porn industry.
Cabinet spokesman Luo Bingcheng said a special task force was working on prevention, persuasion, rescue and prosecution to combat human trafficking and save victims.
The first isolated cases of Cambodia-based scams emerged in March, but it wasn’t until July, when police dismantled a major gang-linked trafficking syndicate, that the number of reported cases began to spiral, he said.
Luo said the situation was complicated because some of those who traveled to Cambodia were not victims, while some were initial victims who then tried to lure other innocent people as if to replace them.
The lack of formal diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Cambodia is a problem, but international cooperation will help victims, especially since citizens of other countries, including Malaysia, Thailand and even the United States, have also been targeted.