Five Cambodian women who were exploited while working in Japan have been repatriated and are expected to collectively receive just over $100,000 in compensation after the Cambodian Embassy intervened, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

An official at the Cambodian Embassy in Japan, who declined to give his name, said yesterday that the workers were not being paid their legally mandated wage. “The factory paid them very poorly, in violation of the Japanese Labour Law,” he said, adding that the workers were only paid 300 yen (about $2.70) per hour.

The minimum wage in Tochigi, where the women worked, is 775 Yen (about $6.90) per hour.

The women, who sent a Facebook message to the Cambodian Embassy in Japan seeking help, arrived home on Friday.

“To protect the Cambodians’ interests, the embassy contacted the company’s director to solve the salary problem,” the Foreign Ministry statement reads. As a result, the workers will receive compensation totalling $102,471, which the employer, who was not identified, will pay in instalments.

Naoaki Kamoshida, of the Embassy of Japan in Cambodia, said the embassy was not aware of the case.