Human trafficking doubles during Covid

Despite Cambodia closing its borders to prevent Covid-19, the number of human trafficking, especially of women who are between 15-25 years old and belong to the poor rural provinces of Cambodia has doubled since last year through the land borders to and from neighboring countries. The Program Manager at Chab Dai Coalition organization, Chan Saron, stated in an exclusive interview with A24 that the number of girls trafficked abroad as brides have doubled in the first quarter of 2021 compared to last year, adding that girls ’brokers promise them jobs, money, and marriage to rich people in foreign countries. He pointed out that girls first illegally cross the Cambodia/Vietnam border to Hanoi and from there they are transported to other countries, when they arrive, the men who marry the young Cambodian girls are often old, disabled, or poor and after marriage, the girls are sometimes locked up inside a room and sexually abused while other girls are forced to work in factories to earn money to support the Chinese husband’s family.