Cambodia trafficking: False job promises luring Bangladeshis into scam centres
Fear and coercion became routine. Refusal meant punishment; compliance meant participation in online scams. Eventually, the four men negotiated their release by paying $1,500 each as ransom. But freedom proved conditional.
Highlights:
- Online ads targeting the less educated and the desperate
- Weak official oversight leaving workers exposed to vulnerability
- Migrants confuse tourist visa for work permit, as BMET issues clearance
- 2,408 travelled to Cambodia between January and April
- No official tracking of trafficking victims
Md Alamin left Rajbari chasing a simple escape – a steady income abroad to ease his family's financial strain. Instead, he says, he walked into a trap where a job offer turned into confinement, torture and extortion inside a Cambodian scam compound.
Many like him are drawn in through a layer of official-looking legitimacy. Recruiting agencies allegedly present overseas migration as formally approved, citing Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) clearance and verified job permits, while social media ads circulate promises of easy foreign income and secure employment to lure desperate job seekers.
For Alamin and many others, that combination created the belief that the opportunity was genuine. The 33-year-old from Boro Nurpur village had borrowed heavily after being convinced by those promises. He paid Tk10 lakh to recruiting agencies, Ronnie Tours and Travels and MR International.
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On 8 November last year, he left Bangladesh with his 22-year-old nephew, Md Jahid Sheikh, expecting legal work abroad. That expectation collapsed soon after arrival. "We were told we would get work visas. After arriving, we realised we had actually been sent on tourist visas," Alamin told The Business Standard.
According to him, the deception escalated immediately after landing. Recruiting agent Md Golam Mostafa Mukul and Md Arif Sheikh allegedly seized the $2,400 they were carrying before selling them to a Chinese-operated facility known as the "Buffet Scam Centre".
Inside, the situation turned violent. Alamin said they were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and forced into cyber fraud operations. In the same compound, they found two other Bangladeshis – Md Sanowar Hossain, 36, and Md Mahidul, 37 – who they said had arrived through the same recruitment network.
Fear and coercion became routine. Refusal meant punishment; compliance meant participation in online scams. Eventually, the four men negotiated their release by paying $1,500 each as ransom. But freedom proved conditional.
The victims alleged Mukul refused to return their passports and demanded Tk2 lakh more. They said they were forced to pay another Tk50,000 each before their documents were released. Alamin and his nephew returned to Bangladesh on 15 December last year at their own expense, while the two others returned on 11 January this year.
Back home, they said, intimidation continued as they tried to recover losses. They accused Ronnie Tours and Travels owner Md Masud Rana (Ronnie) and Abdullah Al Mamun (Opu) of involvement, alleging use of BMET-cleared channels, fake job offers and salary promises via Mersas Bangladesh and MR International. When they demanded repayment, they said they were threatened.
Seeking legal action became another struggle. The four victims said they repeatedly visited the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Bhatara Police Station from 9 April before finally filing a case on 25 April.
Bhatara Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Mazharul Islam said police conduct preliminary verification before recording cases. "The case filed by these four victims has been recorded, and police are working to arrest the accused," he told TBS.
Their experience reflects a wider trafficking route into Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia, where Bangladeshis are increasingly recruited through online job advertisements promising high salaries and easy migration.
Data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) shows 2,408 Bangladeshis travelled to Cambodia between January and April this year, though officials have no data on how many ended up in forced labour or trafficking.
Rights groups and migration experts say the pattern has grown sharply since 2021, driven by easily obtainable online tourist visas that traffickers exploit alongside BMET clearance to manufacture legitimacy for fraudulent recruitment.
Al-Amin Nayan, manager of BRAC's Migration Welfare Centre, told TBS that BMET clearance is being exploited as a trust signal, convincing migrants they are entering verified employment channels, only to discover after arrival that they have been misled and placed on tourist visas.
He added that more than 15,000 Bangladeshis travelled to Cambodia in 2025 with BMET clearance, but no official system tracks how many were later trapped in scam compounds.
Responding to the allegations, BMET Director General Md Abul Hasanat Humayun Kabir said manpower clearance was previously issued for Cambodia but has been stopped for the past three months since he assumed office, including Laos and Vietnam.
Urging caution, he said prospective migrant workers must be more aware before going abroad. "Laos and Cambodia are not wealthier countries than Bangladesh. So why should people go there?" he said, adding that both job seekers and guardians should exercise caution while authorities try to raise awareness.
