Amid growing concerns over the trafficking of Cambodian women to China, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) yesterday announced plans to train Chinese immigration officials in better identifying victims.

According to a statement released yesterday, the IOM, in partnership with the Chinese government, will host a two-day workshop this week to train some 35 immigration officials.

“The workshop will train frontline immigration and frontier inspection officials from around China on how to better detect counterfeit documents and imposters. It will also focus on the need to proactively identify vulnerable migrants and potential victims of trafficking,” IOM Beijing head of office Pär Liljert said in the statement.

Last week, Cambodia called on China to stop granting visas to single Cambodian women unless they had an official letter of invitation for a work visa or had deposited $10,000 in a Chinese bank for a tourist visa.

The request was labelled misguided by rights groups.