PHNOM PENH – A massive employment scam has left hundreds of Pakistanis stranded in Cambodia.
The harrowing details of the incident reveal that the Pakistanis had arrived in Cambodia in search of livelihood only to being held hostage and face violence.
Federal Investigation Agency’s Director, Nauman Siddiqui, revealed that scammers lure jobless youth through IT, call centres, and engineering jobs in Cambodia using social media and Pakistanis are being made a target of the scam.
Media reports imply that recruitment takes place in Lahore and Karachi though scammers have no job in actual to offer. In recent weeks, over 20 Pakistanis, including a woman, have been deported from Cambodia with emergency travel documents, GEO News reported.
In this regard, Karachi’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle (AHTC) has registered two cases and initiated 14 inquiries based on testimonies from the deported individuals.
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Regarding the scam, AHTC Karachi SHO Sohail Mehmood Sheikh details that upon arrival in Cambodia, victims have their passports confiscated and are forced into illegal work, including fraudulent call centres and forced labour in remote areas.
The Cambodian authorities sprung into action after complaints from the Pakistani mission, and launched an operation two weeks ago, rescuing over 100 Pakistanis from these centres
Fortunately, many victims have managed to escape and were repatriated after intervention by the Pakistani embassy.
However, the fresh case relates to a significant number of Pakistanis who remain stranded in remote regions, reportedly held hostage and forced into labour. The Pakistanis who have been repatriated have told local authorities that there are other Pakistanis in the country who need to be rescued. Though no official data is available, reports imply that most of the victims belong to Punjab province.
FIA officials have confirmed that few foreigners based in Karachi and Lahore are suspected of involvement in this network and are currently under investigation.
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