Locals in Banteay Meanchey’s O’Chrou district claim that a pair of Thai brokers drove two trucks into Cambodia illegally on Friday and persuaded nearly 30 villagers to work at a sugarcane plantation located about 3 kilometres across the Cambodian-Thai border.

The workers also haven’t returned home since then, they say, raising fears they may have been cheated. Om Em, 55, who lives in Tonob Dach village, said the brokers persuaded the villagers to work in Thailand illegally.

“They came and said that they needed workers immediately and they were going to pay 250 to 350 baht [$7 to $9.79] per day, and they offered two meals per day,” he said.

Tea Vanny, Tonob Dach village chief, said villagers go to work at the sugarcane plantation in Thailand in the morning and return in the evening. But about 27 workers haven’t returned since Friday when they were persuaded to take the jobs.

“If they are really working at the sugarcane field, it will not be a problem, but I worry that they were tricked to log timber in Thailand illegally, since in the past, many villagers have been cheated,” he said.