Authorities working to protect Vietnamese citizens tricked to work illegally in Cambodia: official

Hanoi (VNA) – Spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang on August 25 updated the media on the issue that many Vietnamese people had been tricked to work illegally in Cambodia.

Addressing the ministry’s regular press meeting, she highlighted that the Vietnamese Government pays close attention to this issue.

The media in the two countries recently reported many Vietnamese nationals have been tricked to work illegally in Cambodia and faced difficulties.

Facing that fact, the Foreign Ministry and Vietnam’s representative bodies in Cambodia have worked closely with domestic minitries, sectors, and localities, especially the provinces bordering Cambodia, as well as Cambodian authorities to collect and verify information, carry out many citizen protection measures, and repatriate those in distress.

More than 500 Vietnamese citizens have been helped to return home safely while thousands of others received assistance in handling procedures, Hang said, noting that the Ministry of Public Security cracked down on many gangs and arrested many for sending people to work illegally in Cambodia in the first half of this year.

The spokeswoman said in the time ahead, the Foreign Ministry and Vietnam’s representative bodies in Cambodia will keep coordinating with domestic authorities and localities and Cambodia to increase citizen protection measures, help the tricked citizens return home, and ensure their rights and legitimate interests.

Localities will also step up monitoring and issue warnings to locals about working abroad, she stressed.

Regarding the 11 Vietnamese nationals who are stranded in Cambodia while trying to flee to Vietnam and could be expelled by local authorities due to lacking passports, Hang said after receiving the information, the Foreign Ministry had instructed the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia to work with local authorities to ask for early investigation and stronger examination of working sites, especially those providing entertainment services, so as to detect, prevent, and deal with any cases of illegal employment of workers.

The Foreign Ministry also requested the embassy to work with the host country’s agencies to protect and rescue the foreign workers, including Vietnamese ones, who are exploited by employers, work closely with Vietnam’s authorities to increase the management of exit and entry in the two countries’ land border areas to prevent and minimise illegal exits, according to the spokeswoman.

She added that on August 22, the Cambodian police arrested the manager of the place where 40 Vietnamese citizens escaped from on August 18, and handled procedures for 25 other Vietnamese who were also tricked to work illegally in Cambodia to return home. 

The ministry’s Consular Department has worked with relevant agencies to verify information and take the next citizen protection measures, Hang went on, saying that the department and Vietnam’s representative bodies in Cambodia will keep a close watch on the case and coordinate with domestic and Cambodian agencies to solve related issues and carry out citizen protection measures when necessary./.