Human and sex trafficking complaints had increased markedly this year, with police vowing to redouble their resources to fight the rampant crimes, officials said at a summit on Friday.

Mok Chito, head of the General Secretariat of the National Police Commissioner’s central judicial department, said 113 people had been arrested in the first eight months of 2012 for involvement in human and sex trafficking rackets.

A total of 315 trafficked Cambodians have been repatriated so far – 181 were maids, mostly from Malaysia,  Chito said.

“Of these victims of human trafficking, 10 were sent directly through a recruitment firm and five through a training centre,” he said. “Their rescue was the result of joint co-operation by the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs, Cambodian embassies and NGOs.”

The other 134 repatriated workers, including fishermen, had been trafficked to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand,     Indonesia and South Korea.

The number of arrests, Cambodians repatriated and complaints filed to police about international human and sex trafficking – 370 – had all increased from 2011, Chito said.

He would not say to what extent the figures had climbed, but said there was a marked increase on last year’s numbers.

Chito’s comments followed a General Commissariat of National Police meeting on Friday at which this year’s figures were reported and officials discussed better ways of combating human and sex trafficking.

Ministry of Interior secretary of state Chou Bun Eng said there were plans to form an inter-ministry committee to further crack down on trafficking.

“People are continuing to believe what brokers are telling them,” she said.

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

“They try to escape authorities, which is why all our efforts must continue to be used to combat trafficking at a local and national level. This will still take a long time.”