Kidnapping and Confinement Cases Surge in Cambodia
10 to 20 Cases Annually in 2022-2023
220 Cases Last Year, 330 Cases by August This Year
On October 12, multiple passports from various Asian countries found in a trash bin in Cambodia have been spreading online, causing shock, as three Chinese nationals accused of murdering a Korean university student in his 20s in Cambodia last August have been brought to trial.
On October 12, a post titled "A Photo That Becomes Scary Once You Understand It" spread rapidly online. The author uploaded a photo with the caption, "Foreigners' passports found in a Cambodian trash bin." The image showed passports from Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand and Taiwan, spilling out of a trash bin.
Upon seeing the photo, online users commented, "Throwing away passports without burning them means crime has become routine," and "Isn't this a situation where the Cambodian military should be deployed?"
A photo revealing numerous foreign passports found in a trash bin in Cambodia has caused a shock. Photo captured from an online community.
This is being interpreted as a reflection of growing anxiety following a series of recent cases in Cambodia involving job scams, confinement, and torture targeting Koreans. In fact, the number of kidnapping reports in Cambodia averaged 10 to 20 cases per year between 2022 and 2023, but surged to 220 cases last year. As of August this year, the number had already reached 330 cases.
There have been reports of people traveling to Cambodia after seeing "high-income overseas job advertisements" circulating on social media or online communities, only to be confined and tortured upon arrival. A common case involves perpetrators confiscating victims' passports, threatening and torturing them, and then demanding ransom from their families.
On October 10, three Chinese nationals in their 30s and 40s were indicted and detained by the Kampot Provincial Prosecutor's Office on charges of torturing and killing a Korean university student, identified as A, in the Bokor Mountain area of Kampot Province, Cambodia. Two of the Chinese suspects were driving the vehicle in which B's body was found, while the other was arrested at the Bokor Mountain crime complex where B had been held captive.
According to prosecutors, B was found dead in a car around 2 a.m. on August 8. The two Chinese suspects present at the scene were immediately arrested. The body showed severe signs of torture and bruising, and local police recorded the cause of death as "cardiac arrest due to torture."
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