Seventeen Bangladeshi men who were smuggled into Cambodia without valid visas will be deported as soon as their airfare can be arranged, according to immigration officials.

The men, aged 20 to 40, were arrested in two groups last week, one in Phnom Penh and the other in Poipet town in Banteay Meanchey.

“They were cheated by brokers who had promised to find them jobs with high salaries,” said Major General Uk Heisela, director of Investigation and Legal Proceeding at the General Immigration Department.

According to Heisela, the Bangladeshis paid more than $1,000 each to brokers to secure jobs. General Sok Phal, director of the Immigration Department, said the men would continue to be detained until their repatriation was paid for. “We don’t know when they will be deported, it depends on when their plane tickets can be purchased,” he said.