About 80 beggars and illegal migrant workers were repatriated through the Cham Yeam International Border checkpoint in Koh Kong province yesterday, an immigration official there said.

Deputy chief of Cham Yeam International Border Checkpoint Migration Police, Chin Sovann, said 90 per cent of the group were beggars, including 50 children and a few disabled persons, who had been rounded up by the Thai authorities last week in Bangkok and Pattaya.

The rest were construction workers who had been incarcerated for working illegally in Thailand, Chin Sovann added.

A large number of them had been trafficked by brokers via the Poipet checkpoint in Banteay Meanchey province after being promised lucrative jobs, he said.

“These people were arrested by the Thai authorities because they were working and staying in Thailand without legal documents,” he said.

Based on interviews with the returnees, most of them were from Prey Veng, Banteay Meanchey, Pursat and Kampong Cham provinces, he said.

After being educated by the checkpoint immigration police, they were sent home at their own expense, he added.

To contact the reporter on this story: Buth Reaksmey Kongkea at [email protected]