From Timber to Human Trafficking: Rescued Victims Allege Major Scam Operations in Tycoon’s SEZ 9 m

A remote, city-like compound owned by U.S.-blacklisted tycoon Try Pheap is housing online scam operations of thousands of workers rife with forced labor, detention and unexplained deaths, trafficking victims and rescuers allege.  Those who have managed to escape the MDS Thmor Da Special Economic Zone, near the Thai border in Pursat province, have reported being trafficked from China to the compound, where even local police and officials say they have little access.

One 23-year-old Chinese national from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, speaking in a series of interviews including at a hotel where he has been staying since his rescue, told VOD that he had been enticed to come to Cambodia by a friend he met through online games. In March, he was told he could earn $2,000 a month plus bonuses through promoting games, and bought a flight to Guangzhou city in July. From there, his online friend paid for a flight to Phnom Penh. He had known the friend for five years, and trusted him, he said.

Upon arriving, he was greeted by a woman holding up his name on a sign. After quarantining at Sokha Hotel, he and three others were driven to Pursat. There, for 15 to 16 hours a day, the man was made to flirt with women online based on a script the company gave him. He was not allowed to leave his building, and wasn’t getting paid. He estimates there were 1,000 people working in the same company across two buildings in the compound.

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