Over 100 Pakistanis rescued from Cambodia after falling victim to job scam

In a disturbing incident of human trafficking, young individuals from Pakistan were lured to Cambodia with the promise of high-paying jobs, only to find themselves trapped in a cycle of exploitation and forced labor upon arrival, an official from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) disclosed.

Director FIA Karachi Nauman Siddiqui exposed an unprecedented case of human trafficking, where agents advertised lucrative jobs in Cambodia’s IT sector, call centers, engineering, and other professions to attract young Pakistanis.

According to Geo News Urdu, he claimed that some of these agents operated from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries, and India. The suspects enticed Pakistanis by promising salaries ranging from $1,000 to $2,000 in Cambodia.

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As per sources, the scam came to light when more than 20 Pakistanis, including women, were deported from Cambodia. The majority of the deportees were from Karachi and Lahore and had been sent there under false job offers.

A House Station Officer (SHO) in FIA circle, Karachi, Sohail Mehmood Sheikh, stated that that upon arriving in Cambodia, these individuals had their passports confiscated and were forced to work illegally, particularly in fraudulent call centers on the outskirts of Cambodia.

Sheikh furthermore stated that they registered two cases after conducting 14 inquiries with 20 individuals including a woman.

He said that many Pakistanis, escaped from these places of hardship, were deported by contacting the embassy.

The Pakistani mission, after their complaints, contacted the administration in Pakistan and rescued more than 100 individuals in an operation conducted two weeks ago.

However, a large number of Pakistanis, mostly Punjab, remain held hostage and forced to work in remote areas.

FIA officials stated that some foreigners in Karachi or Lahore were also involved in these illicit practices, and they were being investigated.