A trafficking victim being interviewed by authorities

The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights ("LICADHO"), has long sought to assist trafficked Cambodian fishermen. The following is a composite story that illustrates some of the hardship and terror that many of those trafficked victims face every day. While the names of certain people and locations have been changed, all of the incidents reflected here did occur, and most of them could be considered typical.

My name is Sokly. I am from Battambang province. I left my village with a group of other men to travel with a local broker to the Cambodian-Thai border in Poipet. The broker lured us by promising to give us proper jobs with highly paid salaries in the construction industry of Thailand. When we arrived at Poipet, the broker introduced us to another middleman who smuggled us across the border. We walked across at night-time to a meeting point, where a truck was waiting for us. On the truck we met another Cambodian broker who arranged the transfer of our group and 15 other Cambodian nationals into Thailand. Once we arrived at our destination in Thailand, we were locked up in a room. We did not know what happened to the other 15 people on the truck. After a few days, the broker took me to work on one of the fishing boats docking in the port.

Life on the Fishing Boats
I was taken to work on a Thai fishing vessel. The crew members were regularly beaten and threatened by the captain. He forced us to work very hard every day of the week, even when we were sick. We had no more than two hours of rest per day. One day, the captain forced some of us to weld parts of the ship without providing us with protective goggles. Although we suffered severe burns and our eyes became infected, we were forced to continue with the daily work. The captain, who was armed, also threatened that he would kill anyone who tried to escape during docking periods. We did not receive any salary during our time onboard the vessels.

After approximately eight months aboard, when we anchored off the coast of Malaysia, I discussed an escape strategy with some others. We decided to jump ship at midnight, when our captain and the Thai officers were usually drunk and/or asleep. Before jumping ship, we carefully observed the surroundings throughout daytime to ensure that we could safely swim to shore in complete darkness. We jumped from the boat and swam to the shore. We were drifting in the water for more than one hour in complete darkness, before we managed to reach the shore. It was terrifying.

Malaysia
After escaping from the boat, the other men and I were hiding in a forest near the place where we had reached the shore. The first night we slept on the seaside. From the hiding place, we were able to observe boats going up a river. The other men and I approached one of the boat drivers and indicated that we wanted to go upstream but we did not have money. The boat driver took pity on us and allowed us to come onboard. Luckily, another passenger gave us 35 Ringgit (Malaysian currency). We did not even have shoes to wear. The boat driver took us to a town upriver where three of us bought shoes with the 35 Ringgit we had received from the passenger. We decided at that time to surrender to police so that we could be transferred to Cambodia as quickly as possible.

When the other men and I walked into the local police station, the officers made us sit down on the floor and wait. Some hours later, a man in civilian clothes arrived at the station. He spoke some Thai, and indicated that, if we surrendered to the police, we would have to face long prison terms. He explained that if we worked on a plantation instead for two years, we would be able to save enough money to buy travel documents and return tickets. The police did not object when the man took us with him.

This broker transferred us to the owner of an oil palm plantation, who said we would earn 250 Ringgit (equivalent to US $75) per month. Later, the same plantation owner threatened to kill us if we tried to escape. In three months that we were forced to work for him, we never got paid.

From December 2008 to December 2009 - in cooperation with a network of local, regional, and international partners - LICADHO participated in the repatriation of 21 trafficked Cambodian fishermen from Malaysia.