Authorities send 72 Cambodian back after illegally crossing Thai border

Foreign Ministry spokesman H.E Koy Kuong said that over two days, Thai authorities detained 72 Cambodian workers who were accused of crossing the border illegally, but the Cambodian Consulate General intervened to send them to Cambodia.

On the afternoon of November 4 and the morning of November 5, 2021, Thai authorities arrested 72 Cambodian migrant workers (36 men) at two different locations.

Immediately after receiving the information, the Cambodian Consulate General intervened with the Thai authorities to repatriate the above Cambodian citizens on the afternoon of November 5 through the Khlong Leuk-Poipet international border crossing, handing it over to the Cambodian authorities for processing.

Most of the thousands of illegal migrants detained since early this year were caught along the Thai-Cambodian borders, especially in Chiang Mai, Tak, Kanchanaburi, and Chanthaburi, Lt Gen Kongcheep Tantravanich, the ministry’s spokesman said.

Thai state officials have allegedly been involved in these human trafficking activities and intelligence authorities are tracking them to establish a link with the human trafficking rings, he said.

Security authorities are stepping up efforts along the border to fend off the illegal entry and other illegal transborder activities including drug trafficking, said Gen Tantravanich. The military is working with police and local authorities to suppress these activities, he said.

Employers are also being encouraged to cooperate by not hiring illegal migrant workers who may not have been tested for Covid-19 and carry the risk of causing more outbreaks, he said.

In past months, businesses had ordered workers from labor brokers, some of whom smuggle in unregistered workers from neighboring countries.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES