President Trump’s foreign aid freeze has severely hindered organizations combating human trafficking in Cambodia, leaving thousands of victims vulnerable.
President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign assistance has had a devastating impact on organizations combating human trafficking and forced labor in Cambodia. The country is plagued by tens of thousands of individuals held captive and compelled to work in call centers orchestrating telephone scams. These operations, often found in remote compounds across Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos, target individuals globally, including Americans.
According to United Nations estimates, hundreds of thousands of people are ensnared in these schemes, lured under false pretenses and forced to work against their will. \A shelter in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, operated by the Catholic charity Caritas, has been forced to release some victims and may soon cease accepting new cases due to the funding crisis. This shelter, the only one not government-run that accommodates victims of scam compounds, both Cambodian and foreign, is facing severe repercussions from the Trump administration's funding freeze. The freeze has also halted civil society-led rescue operations and preventive programs aimed at combating human trafficking. \The compounds operate with the backing of local elites, and in October 2022, the U.S. sanctioned Ly Yong Phat, a prominent member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, for his involvement in businesses that trafficked individuals and forced them to work in online scam centers. This setback to civil society efforts coincides with an intensified government crackdown on independent media and organizations working to expose Cambodia's scam compound network. Independent media outlets have been shut down, and a prominent Cambodian investigative journalist who reported on the issue was arrested. \The Caritas shelter, providing trauma-informed care, visa assistance, and legal support to enable victims' return to their home countries, was a vital resource. It received approximately $1 million in funding from USAID over two years and partial support from IOM, a United Nations agency largely funded by the U.S. \While some victims manage to escape, often by jumping out of windows or with the help of rescue operators, their return home is fraught with challenges. They are detained by police and subsequently transferred to immigration detention, where they may remain for months. Many lack financial resources and require legal aid if they entered the country illegally with smugglers. \The absence of shelters leaves victims vulnerable to re-trafficking. Mina Chiang, founder of Humanity Research Consultancy, emphasizes the critical role of shelters in preventing this. She cites cases where Taiwanese survivors, after escaping scam compounds, faced homelessness in Cambodia. \Li Ling, a rescue worker who referred cases to the Caritas shelter, has been compelled to halt rescue operations due to the funding freeze. Six victims who left the shelter after receiving a stop-work order have subsequently disappeared, raising concerns about their safety and the possibility of them returning to scam compounds.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING FORCED LABOR CAMBODIA FOREIGN AID CIVIL SOCIETY CARITAS USAID
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