53 Indonesians Allegedly Confined in Cambodia
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28 July 2022 13:27 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Directorate for Citizens Protection said Thursday, July 28, 2022, that the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh reported 53 Indonesian citizens being victims of fraud by fraudulent investment firms in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
The embassy had contacted the Cambodian Police and requested assistance for the release of the Indonesian citizens. It was initially assumed that they were being held captive. Yet the report is still being investigated by the Cambodian Police.
Details of the fraud and how Indonesian citizens arrived in Cambodia have not been disclosed yet to the public. The case was uncovered by @angelinahui97 via the comment section of Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo's social page.
Such cases were rampant in line with many advertisements of job vacancies in Cambodia circulated on social media. In 2021, the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh handled and repatriated 119 Indonesian citizens who were victims of fraudulent investments.
The figure increased in 2022. As of July 2022, the authority recorded 291 victims, and 133 of them had been repatriated.
To suppress the number of such cases, the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry facilitated the National Police’s Crime Investigation Unit to launch investigations into Cambodia. Based on the released citizen’s statement, the Indonesian Embassy collected data on recruiters who were mostly Indonesian nationals.
SUCI SEKARWATI
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