Three Cambodian women living in China are being cared for at a Cambodian consulate after being tricked into marriage arrangements that resulted in the loss of their freedom.

Chum Sonry, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Cambodian Consulate in Chongquing had intervened on behalf of the brides.

He said the women, who sought to find jobs in China through a middleman, were instead sold to marry Chinese businessmen in 2014.

“Now the women have liberated themselves from their mistreatment and imprisonment after marriage,” Sonry said.

The ministry is reportedly working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate the women to their homes in Cambodia.

Chhoum Run, a monitor for rights NGO Licadho said that “some women hope that they will find happiness if they marry abroad and support their family at home, but not like this”.

The news follows Wednesday’s repatriation of two women who were allegedly abused at the hands of Chinese husbands.