Cambodia deports 119 Thai call center workers

By VNA March 2, 2025 | 07:52 pm PT

View of a shuttered Great Wall Park compound where Cambodian authorities said they had recovered evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture during raids on suspected cybercrime compounds in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Sept. 21, 2022. Photo by Reuters

Cambodian authorities have deported 119 Thai citizens, including 58 women, who had entered and worked illegally in the country.

The group was sent back to Thailand via the Poipet border checkpoint on March 1, following their arrests in raids conducted on Feb. 22-23, the Cambodian National Police General Directorate announced.

The detained Thais admitted to crossing into Cambodia illegally to engage in online criminal activities, drawn by promises of high wages.

In a related development, 84 Indonesians, including 15 women, who were freed from scam centers in Myanmar, arrived in Jakarta on Feb. 28 as part of a large-scale repatriation effort.

They were among more than 7,000 people held in the Myanmar border town of Myawaddy, following a joint crackdown on scam operations by authorities from Thailand, Myanmar, and China.

Online scam operations have long thrived in Myanmar's border regions, luring foreign workers with high-paying job offers. Myanmar's recent crackdown led to the rescue of workers from over 20 countries.