Maryknoll Lay Missioner in Cambodia Helps Migrant Victims of Scam Centers

As the government cracks down on illegal work sites, workers whose documents were stolen are left unemployed and stranded far from home.

By Terry Friel, UCA News

Twenty-four-year-old Surianto, a former warehouse worker from Jakarta, was ecstatic to receive a job in Cambodia with offers of good pay, free food, and accommodation.

Now he is broke, homeless, jobless, and effectively stateless, unable to return home — even if he had the money to pay for his flight.

The Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh — like some other missions in the Cambodian capital — has been flooded with citizens who have no passports or other documents because scam centers stole them. The Cambodian government’s crackdown on scam factories, which began in mid-January, led to daily scenes of chaos at the Indonesian embassy as an estimated 1,500 victims tried to obtain documents so they could return home.

Many were forced to camp on the street for several days.

Many are victims of human trafficking.

Other embassies, such as the Chinese and the Philippines missions, have also been flooded. Organizations such as Caritas and the International Organization for Migration are overloaded.

Workers trapped without identity documents, stolen by traffickers

“We are trapped. The embassy could not help us at first,” Surianto told UCA News in a major shopping mall — too afraid of being picked up if he was somewhere private. “We can’t stay here, and we can’t go home. We have no money, and the embassy needs documents because [the employers] kept our passports.

“And when we get home, there is no work for us there. No money. That’s why we came here.”

The embassy has now found them temporary shelter in a warehouse, where they also get meals and bathroom facilities.

A colleague of Surianto from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Muklis, a mechanic, also spoke to UCAN and showed a large machete gash on his scalp.

He said he suffered at the hands of his Chinese boss for not meeting scam targets. “They hit a lot of people for not making their targets,” said Muklis.

The Indonesian embassy said the recent Cambodian law enforcement measures against scam operators would likely lead more citizens to continue showing up at the mission. “The main problem for them is that they do not possess passports and they are staying in Cambodia without valid immigration permits,” it said in a statement, adding it would help with new documents, overstaying fine waivers, and flights home.

But Surianto said he has been told this could take months.

“What do we do?” he asked.

Ending a slave-driven industry that preys on migrants

Amnesty International has urged the Cambodian government to act.

“The Cambodian government must provide support for these individuals and help bring all remaining victims inside scamming compounds to safety, as well as ensure their access to justice and remedy. They must not be forcibly sent back to countries where they risk being persecuted, as has happened in the past.

“This latest dramatic development reflects the alarming scale of the problem of the scamming industry in Cambodia and the failure of the government to properly investigate and hold those responsible to account.

“If the Cambodian government is serious about ending this slave-driven industry, it must now investigate all scamming compounds in the country.”

Surianto and Muklis were hired by different agents in Indonesia and brought to Cambodia through Malaysia. Their job was to trawl WhatsApp accounts and personal details on the Internet, which could be used by their bosses to dupe the target out of money.

“We were told we would be paid $700 a month,” says Surianto. “But when we got here, they said $300-$400. But we got no money. For the first month, everything was fine, because we were being trained.

“They stopped paying us after that, saying we did not meet our targets. Every day, we had a daily target to find WhatsApp details and other personal information.”

Beatings were also regular in the compound. Workers lived in eight-man dorms.

They escaped their compound and sought shelter in a nearby Catholic church, although they are Muslims. A parishioner helped them get to the capital.

Thousands more are trapped across the country, unable to reach Phnom Penh to seek help from their embassies.

“We felt very bad, but very happy to get out and get to Phnom Penh. But now we are still very scared,” Surianto says.

Maryknoll lay missioner: “a full-blown humanitarian crisis”

Tougher immigration laws introduced this month particularly target victims of trafficking and increase the risk of expulsion for anyone who helps undocumented foreigners.

“Everybody is afraid to do anything right now because they all feel threatened,” Maryknoll Lay Missioner Thu Tam Hoang told UCA News.

“Due to this threat, the bishop of Cambodia issued a warning to all parishes: those discovered helping undocumented foreigners risk expulsion from the country. These restrictions have drastically limited the Church’s ability to offer a safe haven or support to these vulnerable individuals, leaving them with nowhere to turn,” Hoang wrote in an appeal for help from the Sisters Adorers, which works with human trafficking and abused women and children.

“We are facing a full-blown humanitarian crisis. Victims of trafficking are unsafe, embassies are overwhelmed, shelters are full, and organizations are restricted from providing aid. The lack of emergency funding and resources is putting lives at risk.

“Our faith calls us to compassion and solidarity — when one member suffers, we all do.”

Editors’ note: Migrants’ names have been changed to protect identities.

Featured photo: Desperate victims of scam center abuse wait for help outside the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Terry Friel/Cambodia)