PHNOM PENH: China has urged its citizens to report job scams and seek help from the country's embassies or consulates, especially in Cambodia.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the notice after a number of Chinese nationals became victims in job scams and human trafficking cases in the Southeast Asian country.
The ministry said its embassy in Cambodia was liaising closely with the Cambodian Government in the ongoing search and rescue of Chinese nationals.
According to a report in Khmer Times, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said its embassy had so far received requests for help from more than 20 of its nationals and that some were from Taiwan, which Beijing considers as part of the country.
"The government attaches great importance to this issue and is fully committed to protecting the safety and lawful rights and interests of overseas Chinese nationals, including compatriots from Taiwan," he added.
"We once again remind our citizens to be vigilant against fake overseas job postings on the internet, and strictly abide by laws and regulations to protect themselves and promptly report any information related to fraud and gambling.
"We will continue to closely follow the handling of relevant cases. Compatriots from Taiwan and their families can also contact the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia to seek help promptly."
Zhao Lijian urged victims to contact the local police immediately and get in touch with the Chinese embassy or consulate there for emergencies.
A report in CGTN also quoted Communist Party of China Central Committee deputy director of the Taiwan Work Office, Chen Yuanfengsaid, saying that the government was ready to help Taiwanese trapped by scams in some Southeast Asian countries.
China's offer to help Taiwanese comes amid reports that some from Taiwan were lured to work in Cambodia, where they suffered imprisonment and physical abuse.
Focus Taiwan news portal recently reported that at least 373 Taiwanese were duped into working for Cambodia-based fraud rings through fake job advertisements.
Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng had said that due to a surge in online fraudsters luring young adults to Cambodia through false job promises, authorities recently visited more than 4,600 households in Taiwan where young adults recently travelled to Cambodia but have not yet returned.
He said the checks concluded that 144 people could be held against their will in Cambodia and that over 200 people reported that their family members or friends had been recruited for such scams from March to July this year.
Of the people lured to Cambodia, 99 percent were recruited to work in telecom scams there while a few were trafficked for sexual exploitation, Lo said.
Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang had also instructed Cabinet members to give top priority to all possible means to free the victims, bring them home, and crack down on local criminal rings which sent them to Cambodia, according to Lo.
The recent spate of Cambodia-based job scams has put mounting pressure on the government, prompting the Cabinet to set up an inter-ministerial task force in early August to tackle the longstanding cross-border fraud problem.
Meanwhile, Cambodia's Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said they have been working closely with relevant Cambodian institutions to improve the mechanism for receiving complaints, requesting interventions, and handling complaints of people suspected of being victims of human trafficking.
Cambodia and Thailand had also signed an agreement on the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for law enforcement cooperation against human trafficking, according to a statement from Cambodia's National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT).
The Khmer Times said officials from both countries have met and drew up the SOPs that will serve as guidelines for closer cooperation between the two countries in the fight against human trafficking.
"Human trafficking is a transnational crime that cannot be blamed on any one country alone. Therefore, the countries involved in this case must work closely with Cambodia to effectively crack down on human trafficking," said one of the officials.
On Monday, the police arrested four Chinese nationals on suspicion of human trafficking, after an inter-province police chase in Cambodia.
According to the authorities, the men were travelling in a black Lexus RX300 taxi and when the vehicle was stopped by Kampong Speu Provincial Police the men fled but were caught in Phnom Penh.