Twenty six Cambodian workers, who allegedly worked long hours with inadequate food, have returned home after being retained for four months in Saudi Arabia. Four more remain but will be repatriated soon.
On April 18, a video posted on a Facebook account named Ry Single, said their employment contract with Cambodian company Fatina Manpower Co Ltd required them to do cleaning work as a group for eight hours in the Middle East country for a monthly remuneration of 15,000 riyal ($400).
The Labor and Vocational Training Ministry said they cooperated with the Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ministry and Cambodian embassy in Egypt, and the Saudi government to repatriate the workers between August 1 and 5.
The arrival of the workers was warmly received by their families as well as Labor Ministry officials at the Phnom Penh International Airport. The workers were provided health checks along with job opportunities and offers to participate in vocational training, and later sent to their respective homes.
To date, 104 workers have been repatriated from Saudi Arabia, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Em Bopha, 44, who said she was a victim in Saudi Arabia, told CamboJA News that she was “really happy” to return to Cambodia on August 5.
Bopha shared that the ministry arranged health checks for everyone, and gave each of them 180,000 riel ($45) cash and groceries.
She also asked Fatina Manpower to help resolve their financial situation by way of compensation following the employment problem stretching over several months.
“I urge people who want to register to work overseas to think carefully before going, given my experience. I didn’t think clearly before going, which resulted in difficulties,” she said.
She said the problem was because the company was “being slow to provide money to the Saudi Arabia side”.
Similarly, Cambodian migrant worker Seun Mony expressed happiness to finally return home after feeling despair of being “staying in the room” for four months.
She told CamboJA News that the ministry took care of them by providing money, health checks and job opportunities.
Mony advised those who want to work or study abroad to understand the law and legal principles clearly to avoid “suffering” like them.
She has not decided whether to work following her return, as the company promised to pay the remaining salary from the time she worked. However, she has bank debts to pay off.
Ministry spokesperson Katta Orn told CamboJA News that they collaborated with the Foreign Affairs Ministry and other stakeholders to facilitate the return of 104 workers to Cambodia. Four more remain in Saudi Arabia and are awaiting repatriation.
Katta Orn mentioned that presently there are 27 Cambodians working there, who are not related to this issue.
“The ministry is still investigating this case. It is important for the ministry to cooperate with the workers as a matter of priority to bring them back to Cambodia,” he said.
Rights group NGO Adhoc president Ny Sokha welcomed the efforts to bring home the workers, but called on relevant ministries to thoroughly review the legal measures involving the recruitment of Cambodian workers by companies for foreign jobs.
“This is a [case of] labor exploitation because they went there based on their employment contract but upon arrival, the contract was not enforced,” he said.
Sokha opined that the law should be strictly applied on companies or individuals recruiting people to send abroad.
“If those people were allowed to go free [under the law], it won’t prevent similar incidents from happening,” he said.
