Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) A Taiwanese diplomat on Tuesday said there are still around 300 Taiwanese nationals who are believed to be victims of job scam rings in Cambodia and have not returned to the country, even after the government’s months-long effort to bring them home.
Wallace Chow (周民淦), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said that as of Dec. 12, the Taiwan government had assisted with the return of 403 Taiwanese people, many of whom were allegedly lured to Cambodia with offers of fake lucrative jobs and then forced to work for fraud rings.
However, there are still 296 Taiwanese in that situation who have not yet returned to Taiwan, Chow said at a news briefing.
Asked what made it difficult to help the nearly 300 Taiwanese return home, Chow said the Cambodian police recently found many of these fraud rings had left Cambodia to hide in Myanmar or Laos after local police launched a series of raids to track them down.
Therefore, many of these 296 Taiwanese could also be scattered around in different Southeast Asian countries, making it difficult for the Taiwan government to find them and offer assistance, Chow said.
He also suspected that some of them could be members of the fraud rings themselves or may have intentionally cut off contact with their families.
“We can only save those who wished to be saved,” Chow said.
The total number of Taiwanese believed to be trapped in Cambodia previously stood at 699, according to figures provided by the National Police Agency (NPA). That figure is an estimate made by Taiwan’s government after the NPA launched a round of nationwide checks in August to visit family members of the 4,000 Taiwanese people known to be staying in Cambodia.
During the visits, some family members reported to the police that their relatives were missing or could be victims of job scams after they had difficult contacting them.
Meanwhile, some of the 699 people called Taiwan’s overseas offices for help.
The efforts to rescue trapped Taiwanese victims in Cambodia were launched after the news media exposed the situation of Taiwanese people who have fallen prey to job scams in the Southeast Asian country.
In response, Taiwan’s government on Aug. 8 appointed a task force to handle the problem and to help bring home those stranded there.
The task force has also been working to raise public awareness of the risks related to work and travel in Cambodia, including by having airport police in Taiwan hold signs that warn travelers to Cambodia about the reported job scams there, according to the Cabinet.
Due to the months-long efforts, the number of people who claim to be victims of such scams seeking help from Taiwan’s overseas office in Southeast Asia have significantly dropped over the past few months, Chow said.
He, however, warned that the number victim could soon rise again after Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries loosen their border control measures, previously imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, and as more people visit Cambodia.
