Phnom Penh Municipal police have cooperated with Banteay Meanchey police to arrest 22 illegal migrant workers and two suspected brokers who attempted to traffic them into Thailand.Keo Thea, police chief of the capital’s anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection department, said that a five-year-old boy and a 14-month-old girl were found along with the 22 workers, which included 18 men and four women.

“We took one week to investigate them before making the arrests,” he said. “We could have arrested them … in Phnom Penh, but we wanted to arrest another broker in Banteay Meanchey, who brings workers to work in Thailand.”

The workers arrived in the capital on Monday and continued to Banteay Meanchey where his officer arrested them in a guesthouse yesterday. The migrants workers said they had paid from 500,000 to 700,000 riel [around US$125 to 175] to the brokers. He added that the suspected brokers, Cheang Ry, 52, and Men Soriya, 25, have been taken to provincial court.

Chan Dara, deputy bureau police chief of anti-human trafficking in Banteay Meanchey, said that after being detained for a short time, the workers will be reeducated by police and allowed to return home.

By May Titthara
Published on October 19, 2011