Cambodia dispacthes 11,940 laborers abroad in first 6 months

A son reunited with his father after his ordeal abroad as captive work slave - image reproduced

The lure of work opportunities overseas often place thousands of migrant workers in compromised circumstances where in extreme cases they would face being exploited as slave labourers and or maltreated physically and emotionally by their employers taking advantage of their lack of legal protection and vulnerability through social isolation - School of Vice

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has sent about 11,940 laborers overseas in the first six months of this year, down 29 percent from 16,900 it sent over the same period last year, the figures of the Ministry of Labor showed Tuesday.

In January to June period this year, the country dispatched 7, 420 workers to Thailand, down 30 percent; 4,506 to South Korea, down 27 percent; and 14 to Japan, down 70 percent.

Cambodian laborers work in industries, agriculture, construction and fishing in Thailand, South Korea and Japan, and serve as domestic helpers in Malaysia.

Currently, some 125,000 Cambodian laborers are working legally in Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan. Those migrant workers have brought home about 200 million U.S. dollars a year, the Ministry of Labor estimated.

Thailand is the largest market for Cambodian laborers with about 90,000 working legally there and the second one is Malaysia with more than 20,000 Cambodian workers. However, the country has stopped sending maids to Malaysia since 2011 after reports of physical abuses, death and working as slaves.