Taiwan’s police force is working with the FBI and US Department of Homeland Security to rescue trafficking victims in Cambodia. Police chief Huang Ming-chao says Thai authorities are also helping to root out criminal gangs profiting from the scheme.
It’s a significant development in Taiwan’s effort to save victims of a fake job scam that has seen hundreds of Taiwanese travel to Cambodia. Fraudsters lure people overseas with promises of well-paid jobs, before kidnapping them, extorting them, and forcing them to recruit more victims under threat of violence.
Police say almost 5,000 Taiwanese people are in Cambodia right now. Many of them traveled there in the last few months. So far, police have identified more than 420 suspected cases of trafficking, of which about 50 have been rescued. That leaves about 370 still trapped in Cambodia.
Rescue efforts have been complicated by the fact that Taiwan does not have a representative office in the country. Instead, its Vietnam office deals with Taiwan’s affairs there and in Cambodia. Police say they are working with local Taiwanese businesses, religious groups and non-profit organizations to save people.
The FBI and US Department of Homeland Security are also helping to identify the gangs behind the scheme. Taiwan’s police say they already know of more than 40 groups operating in Taiwan, including the country’s biggest triad, the Bamboo Union.
Authorities say people should be cautious about accepting job offers from overseas, particularly if the salary offer seems unusually high. They are asking people to report suspicious cases to four dedicated hotlines with the number +886-2-2765-212 followed by 2, 3, 4 or 5. Police are offering reward money to people who help catch the traffickers.