A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers arrived in Cambodia yesterday, aiming to meet with Taiwanese investors and private groups there to set up an initiative to rescue Taiwanese who are being held by human trafficking rings.
KMT Legislator Cheng Cheng-chien (鄭正鈐), founder of the Republic of China-Cambodia parliamentary friendship association, said his office had received petitions calling for the rescue of Taiwanese trapped in Cambodia.
As Taiwan and Cambodia have no diplomatic ties, the trip is aimed at holding discussions with Taiwanese investors and private groups to develop a rescue initiative, Cheng said.
Photo courtesy of the KMT caucus
Cheng, joined by KMT legislators Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) and Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), left Taiwan on Tuesday last week and visited Singapore and Malaysia before their stop in Cambodia yesterday.
In Taipei, KMT caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) urged Taiwanese to stay vigilant against such scams.
Citing media reports, Tseng said many Taiwanese had been lured to Cambodia with promises of high-paying jobs, not realizing they were scams operated by human trafficking rings.
They were held upon their arrival in Cambodia, and some even had their organs removed and sold, he said.
Cambodia is not the only place where such operations have flourished, as there are similar scams in other Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, as well as Dubai, he said.
Tseng urged the government to do its best to rescue victims and ensure their safety.
Although the government has spent a lot of money to promote its New Southbound Policy, this has not prevented Taiwanese being cheated and abused, he said.
The policy is aimed at enhancing trade and exchanges with 18 countries in Southeast and South Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to reduce Taiwan’s dependence on China.
Wallace Chow (周民淦), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the ministry would do its best to rescue Taiwanese human trafficking victims.
The ministry’s representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in May set up a task force, which includes officials from the National Police Agency, the National Immigration Agency and the Investigation Bureau, Chow told a news conference.
The task force is expected to boost communication with Cambodian national security officials and police to deal with the matter, he said.
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