Human trafficking in Cambodia tackled

November 17, 2004

Phnom Phen - Diplomats, aid workers and Cambodian officials met Tuesday to discuss ways to fight human trafficking, a severe problem in this impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

Human trafficking has become a lucrative business in Cambodia, which is recovering from three decades of civil war that forced thousands to flee their homes and in some cases seek refuge abroad.

"This problem is one that Cambodia has struggled with in its recent past as traffickers move human beings into, through and from Cambodia to other countries in the region," US Ambassador Charles Ray said in a statement.

Ray's comment came on the first day of a two-day conference sponsored by the US, British, Thai and Australian embassies aimed at drafting recommendations to stop the practice.

Cambodian children have been forced to beg on the streets of Thailand and Vietnam and young men to work as forced laborers on fishing boats in Thailand. Women have been pressed into prostitution

in Malaysia and Cambodia, and an unknown number of people from China and Vietnam also have been trafficked into Cambodia.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said authorities have rescued more than 8,000 victims of cross-border trafficking and passed a law to fight the practice.

Still, diplomats and Cambodian officials said the country must take further steps to stamp out the scourge, including strengthening its judiciary and law enforcement and boosting cooperation with its neighbours.

"The traffickers have their network, and its tentacles span the continent," Ray said. "Now it is our turn to create a true anti-trafficking network that rivals and exceeds the sophistication of the traffickers."

Earlier this year, Australia agreed to fund anti-trafficking training for Cambodian police and judges, and the United States said it would give Cambodia US$5.6 million to fight trafficking.

It is estimated that approximately 800,000-900,000 people are trafficked across international borders worldwide. The figure does not include internal trafficking, which some observers estimate would raise the number to more than 2 million

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