Trafficking of Cambodian Women and Children to Thailand

Cambodia is still struggling to overcome the heritage left by the past decades of civil war and political instability... Outright poverty persists, which is a main underlying cause of the problem of trafficking... Often mentioned are the fragmentation and disruption of families, the traumas, mistrust among neighbours and weakening of community spirit caused by the experiences... of war, oppression and border camp-life.

Recruiting Women and Girls for Prostitution

"The persons who recruit the women, by convincing and/or deceiving them to enter prostitution are called meebon- a term also used for brothel-owner, neak noam or meekol - more general terms for "recruiter".... They look for the beautiful girls in secondary school, girls whose mother has a second husband, girls who have quarrels with their parents, or girls who just broke up with their boy-friends.

There are many recruiters, usually women, who follow each other up....

The neak noam have relations with the police. Some police are corrupt and will accept the money, because they have low salary. When the parents complain to the police about the disappearance of their daughter, the police can try to find her back, but only seldom will they be able to do so. Most of them disappear in brothels in Thailand and when the brothel-owner knows the police are looking for one particular girl, she will be sold to another brothel.

A police officer in Koh Kong explained:

Although it has become apparent that several layers of people are involved in the process, they do not seem to be part of one huge criminal network that extends its web throughout the country.

Crossing the border

According to a police official in Banteay Meanchey, the girls sold to Thailand are mostly very young, below 13 years old. In Thailand they can be sold to a customer for 20,000 baht for one week..... A police official in Battambang explained that it is difficult to find the children who are trafficked to Thailand because the big traffickers do not keep them in a brothel. They take them on to other countries, like Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe etc.

A police official in Battambang explained why it is so easy nowadays to cross the border for traffickers:

The line between voluntary and involuntary is often difficult to draw. As one human rights workers remarked:

The prosecutor at the Prey Veng court receives several stories about women and girls who were recruited to be sold to brothels.

Recruitment for begging

Old women, handicapped, children and mothers with babies are typical targets for recruitment of beggars....An NGO worker in Poipet AHD received several children, mostly boys, who were arrested by the Thai police for begging. She complained about those parents who let their children go:

In her shelter, she has seen many children come and go. These children are not always deceived or abducted to go begging in Thailand.

Once the people are recruited, they are brought to Thailand and put in a house together with other beggars. Every morning and afternoon they are dispersed over certain spots. They are not allowed to walk around by themselves, since they might lose their way. They are brought and picked up be car. In one day, they can beg and receive up to 500 baht, or sometimes more.

Recruitment of children for criminal purposes

...Sometimes (parents) bring the children along and let them beg on the street to earn some money. If they get arrested and are brought back to Cambodia, there is no one to take care of them... They stay with other friends and are easily persuaded by any leader to go to Thailand... A street children's center in Battambang informs children living on the street about the problems related to trafficking.

According to the representative of the center, the people who try to persuade the children to go to Thailand give "bad medicine", i.e. drugs, to the children. In Poipet the problem of sniffing 'rubber cement', a kind of glue that can be bought for 10 baht by street children, has increased dramatically. An official of the police in Banteay Meanchey remarked about the problem of glue-sniffing children:

Some Thai leaders make children addicted to this glue in order to use them for criminal purposes. However, little information is available about the specific purposes and operations of these criminal groups.

Women and girls recruited as domestic servants

Women and children are .... also (sold) for domestic work or other kinds of servitude in the house...One young woman told us her cousin brought her to Thailand. He had worked in Thailand before and had many contacts through which he arranged a job for her as a housemaid in a Thai family with three children. She said:

...The story of this woman indicates that... Some go of their own choice and find a good place to work.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is an intergovernmental organisation. IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. IOM acts with its partners in the international community to:

• assist in meeting the operational challenges of migration.
• advance understanding of migration issues.
• encourage social and economic development through migration, and
• work towards effective respect of the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

The Center for Advanced Study (CAS) was founded in March 1996 as an independent non-political Cambodian institution devoted to research, education and public debate on issues affecting the development of Cambodian society.

Assistance and Services Provided to Migrant Children

The Immigration Detention Center (IDC) Bangkok (cooperates) with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide basic services for detainees especially children. The following NGOs have been providing various services :

• Young Women's Christian Organization (YWCA): education and recreation
• Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees (COERR): basic health care
• Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS): basic health care

YWCA services include non-formal education and recreation.... Foundation for Children Development (FCD) and Center for the Protection of Children's Rights (CPCR) supported Laotian and Khmer children in protecting their rights against abuse and not being paid.

During 1992-1994, Child Workers In Asia (CWA) facilitated various forum and Field Workers' Exchange Programs concerning child labour...focusing on Laos and Cambodia... a network ... on migrant children was established. The government and non-government organizations also developed a system of ...coordination for sending and receiving migrant children back to their countries of origin...

... the International Organization for Migration (IOM) (provides) assistance and services regarding repatriation of trafficked Chinese and Khmer women and children with the cooperation of IDC, CPCR and government agencies in the countries of origin.

In mid 1996, a Task Force on Migrant Children was established to compile and disseminate updated information on the situation of migrant children in Thailand ... in order to coordinate actions and strategies among member organizations. .. GATTW (Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women) and Foundation for Women presented the outcome of their survey on " Practical Approaches towards Trafficked Women" in July 1997. In response to that issue, the National Commission on Women's Affairs (NCWA), Office of the Prime Minister set up a sub-committee to assist trafficked children and women.

a. Emergency assistance provided for abused migrant children

After the rescue the children are provided with services which include investigation, legal action, rehabilitation, etc. Concerned agencies include: Foundation for Children Development, Foundation Center for the Protection of Children's Rights, the Committee for Children, Youth and Women and the Aged (Office of the Prime Minister).

b. Assistance regarding legal action

Responsible agencies include Labor and Women Department (Social Welfare Department), Coalition to Fight Against Child Exploitation (FACE), Foundation Center for the Protection of Children's Rights (CPCR) and Foundation for Children Development (FCD).

c. Assistance regarding deportation

...INGOs include: International Organization for Migration (IOM) and MARYKNOLL-Thailand.

d. Assistance regarding health care

Some provincial health centres near the Thai-Cambodian border... provide academic and technical support along with medical supplies under the policy of International Pubic Health.(Dr.Jaturoong Theerakanok : 1997)

The Foundation for Northeastern Development (NET) organizes activities including games and health check for children near Karbcheng Checkpoint to prevent them from becoming victims of drug use and prostitution.

1. Construction work in big cities
2. Commercial and service sectors: selling candies, chewing gum, dried fish and vegetables in the market or working in restaurants or gas stations
3. Manufacturing sectors: carrying goods from one place to another
4. Sorting shrimps, shell and/or fish at fishing ports
5. Plantation work and logging
6. Daily work: Preparation of fish for making fish ball, plucking chilly stems in the markets and porterage in the border area
7. Domestic work
8. Begging
9. Shoe shining and car window washing

Migrant Workers in Phuket

In Phuket, there are many foreign migrant workers with both legal and illegal status. According to Phuket immigration office, in 1997, the number of migrant laborers registered for work permit is 15,264. The biggest group is Burmese (10,005), others included Laotians (153) and Khmers (106). Most of them work on construction sites and agricultural sector.

The migrant laborers come to work with their families. Many bring their children along. These children are deprived of education and primary health care. Some children have to work to help supplement the family income. CWA team interviewed some Khmer children who were arrested and detained in Bangkok Immigration Detention Center (IDC) during August and September, 1997. It was found that 10 of them were transferred from Phuket immigration detention center and sent back to Cambodia a week after. Surprisingly the team met the same group of children in Patong District in Phuket a month later. It seems that there definitely exists a network between people at the border and Khmer people in Phuket which arranges for the children to be sent back to Phuket.