Type in "Cambodia" on the Google search bar. What do we see?
Sure, the nation’s top scandals will appear on the first page, but with the world’s climate of press always on the search for juicy news nowadays, when does that ever shock anyone? But push on the images tab and take in what you see. It’s nothing but the Cambodia's beautiful scenery and exquisite landmarks. Everything about this page is enticing to the viewer and screams “visit this country!” Nothing among these photos even hint at the fact that this country stands at one of the worst in the world for human trafficking.
Cambodia is seen as a primary place for human trafficking due to its geographical location alone. Because the nation falls directly between Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodia acts as a transit post between the two where Cambodian men, women and even children are traded into slavery.
The U.S. Department of State’s Diplomacy in Action account on the trafficking of persons in Cambodia specifically mentions that men, women and children are traded to work in “factories, restaurants or other industries, but many are subsequently subjected to sex trafficking, domestic servitude, debt bondage or forced labor within the fishing, construction, food processing and agricultural industries.”
But how can all of this be orchestrated?
The main “transaction” takes place between Cambodia and Thailand, in which it’s suspected that corrupt officials are shuffling men and women over the borders. Along with the large influx of migrant workers, and an even larger number of humans being trafficked, these individuals slip across the borders in silence. The countries have no paperwork for these persons so the victims can easily be overlooked and lost in the crowd.
But where do they go?
In 2013, the U.S. Department of State had noted that Cambodian men were being managed under forced labor on Thai-flagged fishing boats. Abuse and deceit were some of the pay that these men never bargained for when they first stepped aboard these ships.
On the other hand, women and girls of Cambodia are used for much more than labor.
Over the years, many recruitment companies arose in Cambodia allowing women and girls to receive jobs. But these companies began to participate in the act of tampering legal documents of these women, such as, but not limited to, confiscating the women's passports. This eventually led to these companies being shut down.
Since the removal of such organizations, it has made getting jobs and migration harder for these women. Connecting them across borders to see families in other neighboring countries is impossible without access to their passports and other forms of legal documentation. Since these women no longer have legal paperwork, traffickers look at them as “easier targets” simply because their identification is no longer attached to their person.
This leads to the women being pushed into the area of either forced labor or sex trafficking.
Women who fall victim to this ploy are not just of Cambodian or Vietnamese dissent either, nor are they just women. The U.S. Department of State notes that “children from impoverished families” are at an incredibly high risk of falling into the forced labor industry, whether it be in the form of domestic servitude or any other form of mistreatment.
As for sex trafficking, many of the women and children are taken advantage of when they travel or are forced out of their spaces in the rural parts of Cambodia to the more urbanized sectors such as Phnom Penh and Poipet. Traffickers have found alternative places in which to exploit these women other than the known brothels and taverns, to avoid suspect. Venues like karaoke bars, beer gardens, and salons are all known to hold women and children who are being used for commercial sex trafficking in the country of Cambodia.
But why isn’t the nation doing anything?
As of 2013, the Cambodian government identified and prosecuted less sex traffickers and child sex tourists than they did the previous year. Although this nation’s government is not fully equipped with the proper techniques and data to move forward in eliminating human trafficking, they have made increasing efforts in prosecuting those involved with the labor trafficking offenses.
The Cambodian government does have a national action plan set in place which sets aside $500,000 to help in the anti-trafficking efforts, but the government has “failed to investigate, prosecute, or convict any complicit officials.”
To find out more about Cambodia or other countries who are experiencing deep depravities just like the ones seen in Cambodia today, you can visit www.globalslaveryindex.organd find out how you and your passions can help the global effort in ending human trafficking.
