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Around 200 Cambodian women were prevented from traveling abroad in the first half of the year after authorities suspected they were at risk of human trafficking, the government said this week.
Department of Immigration Director General Sok Veasna said Monday that authorities stopped nearly 400 people from 22 countries from leaving Cambodia during the period because of pending legal complaints, official watchlists or concerns they had been recruited through fraudulent schemes.
“Nearly 200 [Cambodian] women were suspected of being deceived into traveling abroad for work or marriage,” Veasna said.
He said most of the suspected trafficking victims were believed to have been recruited for travel to China, where Cambodian and Chinese authorities have previously cooperated to repatriate women identified as trafficking victims.
The announcement comes after Cambodia repatriated nearly 100 women from China last year who authorities said had been trafficked there, many after accepting offers of work but instead being forced into marriage.
Immigration authorities also said they denied entry to nearly 2,000 foreigners from 76 countries during the first six months of the year because they failed to meet entry requirements or were listed on official watchlists.
While some Cambodian women travel to China voluntarily for marriage, authorities and rights groups have documented the trafficking of women and girls into forced marriages for decades. Victims are often recruited by brokers promising jobs or favorable marriages before being exploited, a practice linked to economic hardship in Cambodia and China’s longstanding gender imbalance.
Cambodia prohibits commercial marriage brokering, though authorities say much of the activity continues through informal networks.
Government figures show the number of women repatriated from China after being identified as trafficking victims has fluctuated over the years, with 21 returned in 2013, 58 in 2014, 85 in 2015 and 112 cases reported in 2019.
Chou Bun Eng, vice president of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Am Sam Ath, operations director at rights group Licadho, welcomed the move but said authorities should also investigate the brokers who recruit women for fraudulent marriages.
The government’s handling of trafficking has also drawn scrutiny in other areas. Rights groups have questioned Cambodia’s treatment of people rounded up during its year-long crackdown on online scam compounds, saying suspected trafficking victims have often been detained or deported as offenders rather than identified and protected.
Before Cambodia launched its largest crackdown yet on the multibillion-dollar scam industry, the United Nations estimated around 100,000 people from dozens of countries had been forced or coerced into working in scam compounds across the country.
