A Chinese casino manager and a number of Vietnamese nationals were detained by Cambodian police last month in connection with an alleged case of forced labor at the Golden Phoenix Entertainment Casino in Kandal Province, near Phnom Penh.
The detentions followed the dramatic escape of more than 40 Vietnamese casino workers who swam across the Binh Di River to escape what they described as unbearable working conditions. Once back in Vietnam, they were arrested by border guards for illegally entering the country, reported the Khmer Times.
The workers said they were lured to Cambodia with the promise of “easy work (and) high salary” in the online gaming industry, only to work 14 hours a day for half the pay and suffer beatings if they did not comply.
Cambodia is under fire from human rights activists around the world due to charges of human trafficking and other abuses. One worker was reportedly recaptured and beaten; another is said to have drowned during the escape attempt. According to Vietnamese news outlet VnExpress, the body of a 16-year-old was pulled from the river.
General Keo Vannthan, spokesman for the Cambodian Immigration Department, said the 11 Vietnamese nationals will be deported. “For the Chinese manager of a casino, who is in custody, further investigation is needed,” he said.
Kandal Province Deputy Governor Kruy Malen claimed the casino was paying its workers, who fled to “avoid responsibility of their work” and gaming debts.
One escapee told VnExpress that casino workers were forced to create fake social media profiles and recruit customers to a fake dating platform. If they did not work, they were beaten or threatened with a visit to an “electrocution room,” she said.
According to Agence France Presse, another escapee said casino security guards attacked the group with batons and iron sticks as they tried to leave.
“Our four months being cheated while working at a casino in Cambodia were like hell,” she said. “If I did not do it, I would be beaten to death.”
Yet another worker, who acknowledged taking the job to pay off gambling debts, said, “I did not think that the job would be to scam people.” When he didn’t earn enough money, he said he was sold to different bosses.
