Cambodia sees spike in human and sex trafficking cases in H1

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PHNOM PENH, Aug 28 (Xinhua): Cambodia cracked down on 198 human trafficking and sexual exploitation cases in the first six months of 2021, a remarkable rise from only 63 cases over the same period last year, a senior official has announced.

Some 139 cases involved human trafficking and 59 cases related to sexual exploitation, the Interior Ministry's secretary of state Chou Bun Eng said during a virtual meeting.

"During the crackdowns, our law enforcement agents had arrested a total of 291 suspects and rescued 721 victims," she said.

Bun Eng, who is also the permanent vice-chair of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking, said as the government was very busy to fight against COVID-19, some opportunists had tried to smuggle people across the border.

"However, the Cambodian government is doing its best to eliminate all forms of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in order to enhance the respect for human rights, dignity and social justice," she said.

Meanwhile, officers from the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-drug Department arrested three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian man for being involved in trafficking 5kg of illegal drugs from South Africa to Cambodia.

According to the department's report, the clampdown began on Aug 19 in cooperation with customs officials at Phnom Penh International Airport and in the presence of Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Seng Hieng.

“Specialist officials checked the irregular package sent from Johannesburg in South Africa to Cambodia via DHL Company, finding ketamine liquid stored in 60 bottles of Aloe Gel, weighing 5kg”.

After inspecting the suspicious packages, the officers continued their investigation and found out that the intended recipients resided in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town.

They then cooperated with the provincial court, authorities and police to raid a house in Poipet, arresting the four suspects, according to the report.