The mother of a Cambodian maid from Kratie town’s Srae Sdau commune said on Sunday that her daughter has not been heard from since she went to work in Malaysia more than two years ago.

“I don’t know if she is fine or not. She never calls. I worry about her so much,” So Sros said of her daughter, Men Phounam, a 23-year-old who was initially recruited by the now-defunct T&P firm in April 2010.

It was thought that she would send part of the money to the family, her mother said. But Sros grew suspicious when nothing, not a bill, not a note of explanation or greetings, arrived in the mail.

“She never sent her salary, but that isn’t important now. I need my daughter to come back,” she said, adding that Phnounam signed a two-year contract.

According to the mother, Phounam stayed two months at the T&P training centre in Phnom Penh before leaving for Malaysia.

There has been zero contact since then.

Training domestic workers for employment abroad, T&P and other recruitment companies were largely put out of business in October, 2011, when Prime Minister Hun Sen announced a moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia.

Thim Narin, a coordinator for ADHOC in the area, said that this is the second complaint this month about a Cambodian maid from Kratie province allegedly missing in Malaysia.

In August, human rights group ADHOC and the anti-trafficking organisation Caram held a press conference together about the T&P company, which has been the subject of numerous complaints from family members in the area.

Representatives said that the families of migrant workers had filed 56 complaints against T&P and 46 against recruiter, Giant Ocean International, in the first six months of this year, a 70 per cent increase from the same period in 2011.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sen David at [email protected]