Tens of Vietnamese laborers tried to run away from the ‘hell on earth’ in Cambodia and repatriate to Vietnam through the Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh. In August 2022, more than 40 others fled from a casino in Cambodia, and jumped into the Binh Di river in An Giang province to illegally enter Vietnam. But not all of them succeeded. Some returned to their homeland, but others lost their lives. Only their ashes could be returned for family reunion.

In early September 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) reported that Vietnamese representative agencies in Cambodia had collaborated with appropriate agencies to bring 600 Vietnamese citizens, who were trafficked and sold into forced labor in Cambodia, back to Vietnam safely.

Many subjects and broker rings that organized illegal entries/exits have been found and prosecuted recently.

The traffickers told the victims that they could help them find "easy jobs with high incomes". And many individuals fell into the trap. 

Colonel Dinh Van Noi, director of An Giang Police, last August said that after an investigation of 42 Vietnamese who ran away from Cambodia, the police found four human trafficking rings.

The victims were mostly young people aged 18-35 who tried to look for jobs via social networks (Zalo, Facebook), or friends and acquaintances.

They were forced to work hard, suffered from property confiscation, and faced danger to their life.

After entering Cambodia, they were forced to work at establishments that organized scamming activities, such as online gambling and cryptocurrency trading on the internet. 

They had to work 12-16 hours a day, and could not leave the establishments. Many people were sold to other traffickers, and others were forced to call their parents in Vietnam to tell the parents to pay a ransom ($3,000-30,000) in exchange for returning to Vietnam.

Some of the subjects that led the activities, demanded ransom and expropriated properties were Chinese, with the assistance of some Vietnamese in Cambodia.

Ngo Minh Hieu, a cybersecurity expert, has repeatedly warned that many Vietnamese have been seduced via social networks. There are many groups on the networks, especially on Facebook, which advertise "easy jobs, easy money" in Cambodia, Dubai and some countries near Vietnam.

Greed, plus lack of knowledge of how to use social networks, can lead to many people becoming the prey of scammers.

Quang Thanh