The human right group ADHOC demanded the Cambodian Government to intervene in support of over 200 victims of fraud committed by recruitment agencies and to arrest those responsible.
During a press conference in Phnom Penh, Thun Saray, President of ADHOC, said 201 became victims of fraud when they paid US$400 in registration fees in June 2014 in order to get a job in Japan with the Rice Natural Co., Ltd and the Century (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. Mr. Saray demanded the Government to arrest those who committed this fraud against those victims and request access to the agencies ‘capital, deposited at the National Bank of Cambodia in order to pay back the victims’ money.
Based on an investigation by ADHOC staff members, Mr. Saray added that both agencies promised to provide the victims a job in agriculture, industry, and construction in Japan for less than six months; however, they failed to comply with their promises. After having received the victims’ money, the agencies removed their offices.
The 201 victims who are in debt of high interest loan filed a complaint against both agencies, seeking intervention from the Government and other relevant public institutions.
According to a report by ADHOC, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training sent a letter to both agencies on 10 April 2015, demanding them to stop recruitment of new victims for a period of 45 days and until an agreement had been reached with victims. However, there is no sign of an agreement as of yet.
Data from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training reveals that there are over 60 recruitment agencies registered with the Ministry. The total deposit of those agencies amount to around US$100,000.///
