Behind Closed Gates: 200 Vietnamese Quietly Removed From S’ville Compound

Cambodian authorities were tight-lipped last week over an operation at Sihanoukville’s Jin Gang hotel compound, acknowledging only that there was an “administrative measure” against illegal Vietnamese immigrants. But for more than a week, the property, just off Ochheuteal Beach, was busy with official activity as a string of social media videos emerged from inside telling of hope that they would “soon to be free.”

“Goodbye Sihanoukville and see you never again,” one of the TikTok videos said in Vietnamese. “Waiting for the return day,” said another. The poster of the latter video wrote in a comment that they had been tricked into coming to Sihanoukville, and that police and the Vietnamese Embassy had helped to “rescue” them. Other videos also spoke of rescues, which they anticipated would expand around the coastal city.

Reporters have seen around a dozen videos in Vietnamese that were posted since late April with the Jin Gang compound recognizable in the background. In them, people waited around its main courtyard, many with travel luggage, while officers looked them over.

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