Over 3 months, Indian Embassy rescues 75 Indians trapped in cyber-slavery in Cambodia

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) held a meeting with officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and other security experts to draw up a strategy to rescue the Indians trapped in Cambodia.

Abraham told The Indian Express over phone that they are getting four to five complaints on an average almost regularly from different parts of Cambodia. “The moment we get a request we inform the police. We also guide them on how to travel to the embassy, and since they are in trauma we even counsel them.”

“The problem which should be highlighted is that when these people are being rescued and getting back to India, invariably, they are not filing an FIR with the police. It is only when FIRs are filed, the Indian police will be able to get to these agents/companies,” he said.

“We are in regular coordination with the MHA. Whenever we get details of any agents, we share those with them. When people file FIR, only then the police will come into the picture,” the senior official said.

Abraham said that people who are stranded in these companies approach the embassy, which then through local Cambodian authorities tries to rescue them. “In the first three months of this year, around 130 people have approached us through different helplines. Out of them, more than 75 people have been rescued from January 1 to till date. This figure also includes those who have escaped themselves,” he said.

“These people are actually coming (to Cambodia) thinking that it’s a data entry job, but the agents are misleading them. It’s only when they are here they come to know that they have been trapped. Even then, not all want to get out immediately, most are from poor backgrounds and some of them have paid hefty amounts to the agents and believe that they will somehow recover the amount and then try getting out,” he said.

Abraham said at the same time, there are some who want to get out immediately and look for rescue. “…So, those escaping out don’t get their passports back from these companies… In such cases, when they approach the embassy, we help them with travel documents with which they can immediately go back to India. In most of the cases, the Cambodian authorities have helped in rescue and when the police carry out rescue operations, they also get their passports back,” he said.