SIEM REAP, Feb 14 — The public is advised to be always cautious of tactics used by syndicates which offer jobs with lucrative salaries, to avoid becoming human trafficking victims.
Julau MP Larry Sng Wei Shien shared that during a brief meeting he had with 47 Malaysian detainees at Banteay Meanchey Provincial Prison on Wednesday, most of them said they were lured by job offers at luxury hotels with a salary of about US$1,500 through social media advertisements.
“These syndicates will use all kinds of tactics to trap victims. In this case, the syndicate had targeted youths in Sarawak through a very convincing advertisement to attract those from middle and low-income families.
“If they are victims of such syndicates, the government, especially the Youth and Sports Ministry should do something such as providing more employment opportunities to youths so that they would not be lured into working abroad purely in pursuit of lucrative wages,” he told Bernama News Channel (Astro 502) here today.
Sng said that one of the detainees he spoke to, 23-year-old Lisa, had come across the advertisement through the WeChat application, while the others had found the same advertisement on Facebook, besides being asked by their village friends to join them in working abroad.
Accompanying Sng during his brief visit were family members of the detainees, media personnel and temporary charge de affairs at the Malaysian Embassy in Phnom Penh, Ruzaimi Mohamad.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Child Development, Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, arrived at Siem Reap International Airport this morning.
She and Santubong MP, Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar were scheduled to meet with the Malaysian detainees at the prison today.
Out of the 47 detainees aged between 19 and 44 years, 44 are from Sarawak and three are from the peninsula.
They have been detained since December 11, after being suspected of being involved in online illegal gambling activities. — Bernama
