Bangkok Post
PHNOM PENH - Twenty-two Cambodians who were
allegedly trafficked onto Thai fishing boats as labourers have been
rescued near the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, a Cambodian official
said Wednesday.
The men, working on Thai boats fishing illegally in Mauritian waters,
were rescued in cooperation with the island and the International
Organisation for Migration, interior ministry official Chiv Phally said.
"We are investigating to see how they ended up on Thai fishing
boats," he said. Half the men flew back to Cambodia on Tuesday, while
the other11 will arrive on Thursday.
Rights campaigners believe thousands of Myanmar and Cambodian men
have been trafficked into Thailand's fishing industry, which provides
seafood for restaurants and supermarkets around the world.
The US State Department has placed Thailand on a trafficking-in-persons "watchlist" for two years running.
Tens of thousands of Cambodians are believed to illegally enter
Thailand every year with the help of brokers who promise them well-paid
jobs.
Some are "forced at gunpoint to go onto Thai fishing boats to work
without salaries," charged Moeun Tola of the Cambodian Legal Education
Centre.
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