Chinese Freed From ‘Online Work’ Cyber Slavery Captivity

Sihanoukville: Several Chinese nationals who were trapped in multiple ‘online investment parks’ in Sihanoukville were rescued through various efforts.

On the afternoon of October 12, Xiao Cheng, a Chinese man trapped in a park in Sihanoukville, was rescued.

Xiao Cheng is from Jiangxi and is 24 years old this year. After the epidemic, his original work unit closed down and lost his job.

On August 19, Xiao Cheng saw someone in a Telegram group post a job offer, saying it was a job at brewery. After being unemployed for 4 months, Xiao Cheng decided to go for an interview.

On the same day, Xiao Cheng borrowed 100 US dollars from a friend and took a car from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville for an interview. However, he was taken into the online gambling park by an Alphard car.

“At that time, there were three Chinese people in the car, plus a driver for a total of four. I thought that the three of them were also interviewing like me, but I was controlled as soon as I got in the car.” Xiaocheng said, “At the time, The car drove very fast. I was locked by one person. The other two put me in handcuffs and put a black bag on me. I fought desperately, but it didn’t work. The car drove for (a while) and I was taken into the small dark room.”

“A man with a Northeast accent came up and asked me, do you want to work or pay a ransom of ten thousand dollars?”

Xiaocheng said that he did not want to commit fraud. His family is very poor and only his grandmother raised him and had no money to pay the ransom. As a result, he was beaten with black batons by three security thugs.

In the middle of the night, Xiaocheng jumped from the second floor where he was held and tried to escape. As a result, he broke his lower back, was caught and beaten again.

Later, Xiao Cheng was sold to another company. The company saw that he was hurt, and sold him for $17,000 price to another online investment park.

Xiaocheng sent a message of distress to the embassy, ​​charity organizations and the media.

On the afternoon of October 12, Xiao Cheng was rescued.

On October 11, the police rescued another Chinese man who was trapped in a network investment park in Sihanoukville.

The man’s surname is Jiang, 30 years old, from Jiangxi. He previously worked as a waiter in a hotel in Sihanoukville, and was subsequently tricked into a network investment park under the guise of recruiting workers.

Subsequently, his relatives and friends called the police for help. Under the instructions of the National Police Headquarters, on the afternoon of October 11, the Sihanoukville Police dispatched officers to rescue Xiao Jiang.

The park where Xiao Jiang is located is close to Ochheuteal Beach and consists of four white buildings. Among them, the first and fourth buildings are “unfinished buildings” that have been completed but not yet renovated.

Recently, the National Police Service sent personnel to Westport to rescue 13 Chinese who were trapped in a KTV used as a front fro an online investment company in Sihanoukville.

It is understood that 3 of the 13 Chinese who were rescued had passports and 10 did not have any documents. They have been sent to the Westport Immigration Bureau and will be sent back to China through legal channels.

According to reports, the family members of the victims sought help from the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia. After verification, the embassy reported it to the National Police Headquarters, which was eventually rescued by the Police Headquarters.

It is understood that these 13 Chinese were previously bought by the online investment company for 350,000 US dollars. CHINESE NEWS

Source:  Xin Jinbian（新金边)- independent Chinese language media in Cambodia.