Relatives of Indonesians who were trafficked to Cambodia to work for what officials described as fraudulent investment companies said their loved ones were tortured and forced to work long hours with no or little pay.
On Saturday, Cambodian police rescued 62 Indonesian nationals after reports emerged that they were being held against their will after they were duped into working as cyber scammers in the seaside city of Sihanoukville, Indonesia’s foreign ministry said.
The brother of an Indonesian worker who left for Cambodia in July said that at one point, his sibling was held captive for two days without being fed after he slept at work.
“[He] couldn’t take the workload, so he became sick,” said the man from North Sumatra province who asked to be identified by the initials Y.T. because of safety concerns.
He spoke out during an online news conference by Migrant Care, a labor advocacy group.
“He didn’t come to work and the next day he fell asleep at work, maybe because he was too tired because he had worked 16 hours a day. He was held captive for several days,” Y.T. said.
His younger brother, Y.T. said, was given only one meal on the third day, and his brother’s company telephoned Y.T. once to advise his sibling “to work seriously.”
And, according to an Indonesian who had worked in Cambodia before returning home in May with two other people, workers were beaten and given electric shocks if they failed to meet…
