WHILE some Malaysian victims are grateful to have been rescued from being forced to work for scam call centres in Cambodia, there are others who prefer to have remained and continued working for these illegal syndicates, reported Sin Chew Daily.

       The daily launched an undercover probe in Cambodia recently and discovered that some Malaysians were knowingly involved in illicit activities there due to the lucrative returns.

       In fact, some of the victims who were recently “rescued” from these scam call centres and brought back to Malaysia were trying their best to return to Cambodia, according to Eldeen Husaini Mohd Hashim, the Malaysian Ambassador to Cambodia.

       “Some of them actually do not want to be rescued. Among those we had rescued in the most recent raid were a few Malaysians who wanted to return to these illegal syndicates,” Eldeen Husaini said.

       He added that what these Malaysians were doing was wrong and even if they did not want to leave, Cambodia would deport them.

       “We can confirm that there have been at least five cases of rescued ‘victims’ who made their way back to Cambodia.

       “Therefore, I suggest that we put their names on a blacklist and ensure that they can never enter Cambodia in the future,” he said.

       The Malaysian Embassy in Cambodia has saved more than 60 Malaysians believed to have been coerced into working for illegal syndicates for the past few years.

       The recent news of 16 Malaysians, who were believed to have been tasered and beaten by illegal syndicates, being rescued and flown back to Malaysia from Cambodia made headlines in the country.

       However, the investigation by the daily revealed a more complicated picture of the situation there.

       Eldeen Husaini said while Malaysians who knowingly went there in pursuit of fortune through illicit activities were in the minority, most of them had been duped into such work.

       He pointed out that the syndicates targeted Malaysians who were in need of money, specifically those from broken homes, less educated, unemployed or drug addicts.

       The promise of a salary of US$1,000 to US$2,000 (RM4,400 to RM8,800) without needing any work experience or education qualifications was irresistible to them, he said.

       With such cases being prominently highlighted, Eldeen Husaini admitted that it will be much harder to launch rescue efforts.

       “Reports by the media are a good thing. But when these illegal syndicates realise that enforcement officers are onto them, they will stop their operations and transfer their victims to another place.

       “This will make it much harder to carry out rescue efforts,” he said.

       On criticisms against the embassy for not doing enough to rescue Malaysians trapped in Cambodia, Eldeen Husaini said the embassy does not have the power to enforce the law but will have to follow proper procedure and work with the Cambodian police.

       ● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.