Human traffickers in Vietnam are finding ever more inventive ways to lure potential victims overseas for exploitation. Through social media networks like Facebook or Zalo, they are offering well-paid jobs at casinos or online games in Cambodia, before springing their trap.
After arriving in Cambodia, these jobs turn out to be fictitious. Instead, they are forced to repay their debts, often through sex work.
In only the past week, police in Dong Nai province arrested three people suspected of being involved in organising human trafficking to Cambodia for prostitution activities.
The suspects weree Nguyen Tien Dung, 24, from the central province of Ha Tinh; Loc Thi Luan, 21, from central province of Nghe An and Ngo Nguyen Dong Khoa, 53, from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).
Dung admitted to police that he recieved 10 million dong ($448) for each person he sent to Cambodia to work. Khoa picked up his victims in HCMC and took them to the border with Cambodia. He would then instruct them to illegally cross the border and enter Cambodia
Within the last month, the three are suspected of trafficking more than a dozen Vietnamese women to work in prostitution at karaoke and massage establishments in Cambodia.
According to Lieutenant Colonel Vo Nhqt Hong Phuc, Dung was the head of the human trafficking ring. The ring publicised job adverts on social media networks such as Facebook or Zalo to attract young people looking for jobs.
They lured the victims to Cambodia with promises of leisurely work with high salaries ranging from several tens of millions to hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong. They used a car to pick up the victims and then took them to the border gate area in Long An and Tay Ninh provinces. The victims were then unofficially taken to Cambodia.
On December 28, Dong Nai Province police also arrested three men and a woman for their involvement in human trafficking, organising illegal migration and bringing persons abroad for prostitution.
A victim, named only as D, reported that in early April 2021 she was offered a job at a karaoke parlour and restaurant with a monthly salary of 80-100 million dong.
When she arrived in Cambodia, the job failed to meet her expectations.
In mid-June, D and some other victims managed to escape and they contacted the Vietnamese embassy in Cambodia for support.
A police investigation unearthed evidence that the four suspects brought nearly a dozen Vietnamese women aged 18-25 to Cambodia between January and June 2021, forcing them to serve guests at sex shops, karaoke bars, and massage parlours.
According to a representative of Ha Tien Border Station, from the beginning of 2021 until now, the station officers have rescued more than 200 Vietnamese citizens from Cambodia. The victims were lured to Cambodia to work in companies, game establishments, entertainment services and companies in Sihanoukville.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Duc Viet, deputy head of the Border Guard Station of Ha Tien International Border Gate, said in many cases the victims were deceived.
Some victims wanted to escape from their employers but failed, Viet said. Some were injured jumping from buildings in a bid for freedom.
VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
