Trafficking of men for work targeted
An unknown number of Cambodian men are trafficked each year, often to be put to work for slave wages in dangerous conditions. A new drive hopes to put this problem in the spotligh
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A victim of male trafficking sits on the dock after being taken off a Thai fishing boat (left) and the vessels themselves (right) that absorb many young Cambodian male migrants each year. Foreign marriages ban: update
Cambodia suspended marriages between foreigners and Cambodians on March 29 amid concerns over an increase in the number of brokered unions involving South Korean men and poor, uneducated women. In 2004, the South Korean embassy in Phnom Penh issued 72 marriage visas to Cambodian women. By 2007, that figure had leapt to 1,759 and a further 160 marriage visas were issued in the first month of 2008 alone. You Ay, secretary of state and chairman of the National Task Force on Anti-human Trafficking, said at a workshop held Wednesday that she would like to see governmental mechanisms created to assist Cambodian women married to Koreans.
"I was cheated," he says, miserably. "There were 18 of us and we could only eat three cans of fish a day. We couldn't go outside as there were many Thai soldiers guarding us. If we came out, they would shoot us."
Mey Say's grim story - he thought he was going to be a factory worker but then was taken into remote jungle and made to cut cassava - is one of many now being told as NGOs and government officials seek to draw attention to the largely under-reported area of the illegal trafficking and exploitation of Cambodian men overseas.
Ly Vichuta, director of Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW), said that the trafficking of Cambodian men for work has received much less attention and intervention than the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls.
"We have decided to address this gap and highlight the plight of male migrants," she said.
"In particular we want to bring attention to the male victims of trafficking and exploitation who are not currently in the spotlight of intervention and research," Ly Vichuta added.
Cambodian men who are willingly smuggled into countries such as Thailand for work often find themselves subjected to conditions of forced labour in the fishing, construction and agricultural industries.
Many have seen ... family ... migrate and others are attracted by tales of success.
"Most of them work in the fishing industry and many do not receive the promised job and wage. They have to work long hours, their salary is often limited or withheld, they experience health problems and are exposed to violence and drugs," Ly Vichuta said.
Understanding the underlying causes of male migration patterns are key: most migrants cite poverty and lack of employment as the major reasons for leaving Cambodia to work overseas, and many have seen other family members migrate. Others are attracted by tales of success and the chance to earn big money, Ly Vichuta said.
"We interviewed 200 men who left Cambodia to work in Thailand. While 153 of them were older, married and often left with close family members, 47 had no families and left with a recruiter, often a neighbour or distant relative," she said.
"Of the 153, 26 men were trafficked, and of the 47 [without families], 18 men were trafficked," Ly Vichuta added.
Young men who are eager to explore life and make their own decisions often leave alone and are more likely to be victims of exploitation.
"Many of the men are between the ages of 19 and 25 and leave with recruiters. They want to fit the social role of the strong male and are vulnerable to trafficking," said Ly Vichuta
Bith Kimhong, director of Cambodia's Anti-human Trafficking Department, said that while trafficking of men presents a problem, men are reluctant to complain. "We have only ever received three complaints from men who had been trafficked for labour," he said.
Intervention needed
"For intervention we have educated people about past cases of [male] trafficking and enhanced border police to prevent recruiters from smuggling people," he added.
"We have also informed Thai police that Cambodian people are working illegally as fishermen in Thailand, but we haven't had any positive results."
Nop Sarin Sreyroth, director of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center, said that while men are just as scared as women when they are trafficked, men will afterwards often not accept that they were exploited and only claim that they were cheated.
Ly Vichuta said that LSCW has focused their intervention on men in Kampong Cham, Kampot, Prey Veng and Koh Kong as these are the major ports of transit with Thailand.
"We don't know yet whether the number of migrants has increased or decreased," he said.
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