(1) Preventive measures are the effective way to tackle human trafficking
Over the past year, as the Royal Government’s general staff in law enforcement and efforts to prevent and combat various security issues, including human trafficking, the Ministry of Interior, all law enforcement agencies, the National Police, the Military Police, and relevant agencies and ministries/institutions, have been working actively […] in this contemporary world, human trafficking has been jointly prevented by all countries (thus) it has changed from being (carried out in the) open to being clandestine and with many creativities and innovations. (effective) prevention of human trafficking is not just finding a way to solve it, and to respond by repression. Prevention is the key task […] for instance, is it illegal to marry a foreigner? […] is surrogate pregnancy for a childless couple illegal? Many countries do not clearly define it. When there is surrogacy pregnancy for sale, then it is illegal […]
(2) Relevant ministries responded promptly to requests for intervention on social media from citizens
On this occasion, I would like to thank the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Labor (and Vocational Training), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs […] who – when received requests for intervention on social media from Cambodian citizens tricked into marriage or work in other countries – together have resolved cases in a timely manner. Once received, we handled them immediately. Thanks to the Cambodian Embassies and Consulates General in many countries who cooperated well […] in some places, (our citizens) go to work legally, but they overstayed their legal period and do not return (back to the country, they have) also become illegal (immigrants). This is the case where prevention is important […] and in another example is when a foreigner come into our country to get surrogacy pregnant, claiming she does that because her living condition is poor […] we would then have to examine the legal aspect, the technical aspect, and the humanitarian aspect intertwined in each case […]
(3) Together prevent through education, training, and publicizing the risks of being tricked
We must work together to take preventive measures through education, training, and publicizing to families, parents, and spouses about the risks of being tricked. With the (advances in) technology, (taking actions have turned out to be) complicated […] regarding this scam, innovation has been fast developing. Our authorities sometimes can’t catch up. They are almost one step ahead of us. It is like a cat and a mouse […] take for instance the issue of adopting a child/orphan. Normally, adoption is a humanitarian work. When adoption is done well, the bad guys start to see it as a business opportunity, the results of their advantage taking has been damaging to others. At that time, we definitely have to stop for a while. It makes some children lose the opportunity to have good parents […]
(4) Combating human trafficking is a duty of humanity
This being said does not mean that (because it is) a complex problem, we do not do it. We must face it […] we must comprehend that that we prevent a case successfully means we have helped one life, one family, and one happiness. The Cambodian people abroad are no different from foreign people in Cambodia. The values and priorities of rendering help must be given the same attention without discrimination. This is our approach. People are the same, difficulties are the same. We help people of other nationalities and other countries help our people in their countries […] I thank the national and international partners who have joined hand with Cambodia in this cooperation. This task (of combating against human trafficking) is a human responsibility, not just for Cambodia, the United States, or ASEAN countries. It is a responsibility for all of humanity. We must work hard to prevent, respond, control, and resolve the exploitation of human trafficking […]
(5) Strengthen and transform challenges into opportunities to strengthen technological capacity development
Strengthening law enforcement mechanisms, drafting laws and preparing to strengthen technology (in the combat against human trafficking have been our stringent efforts) […] wherein, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication, and each institution paying attention to strengthening technology. At present, bad guys are using sophisticatedly advanced technology. We have harvest technology. We cannot ignore technology. If we shut down the Internet, however, it will be shut down for all. We cannot do it. But if we turn it on, we have to face challenges. Therefore, we have to strengthen technology, take it as a tool to help us. It is a challenge, but we have to transform it into an opportunity to strengthen both our development and our capabilities […]
(6) Classification/evaluation of Cambodia’s efforts on human trafficking has not been accurate or fair
Human trafficking affects Cambodia’s reputation and every sector. In the past, we have faced problems with fake news that have damaged our reputation. In some places, the classification/evaluation of Cambodia’s efforts on human trafficking has not been accurate or fair […] Cambodia has never denied that it is facing with issue of human trafficking problem or other insecurity problems. It is (because) of this recognition and clear goodwill that we have strengthened mechanisms and law enforcement, and cooperated with foreign countries (to tackle the issue) […] we cannot suppress or forbid from sharing the information, and say that Cambodia has got not a problem […] but we have to publicize our practices, as well as respond to some slander […]
(7) For twisted facts, we must deny and respond
Some people accuse the Cambodian government of never admitting the truth and always denying it. It is on the contrary. We admit it, but for the twisted facts, we must deny it and respond […] the other day, there was this hot topic of blood slave story. It has been made to believe that Cambodia is a country (where blood is being pumped from someone and sold). A foreigner posted that blood was being pumped from his body and sold. The truth is not like what he said. He has leukemia. He ran out of money, acting in collusion with some in a clinic, he made up the story in order to get donations. In the end, it ruined the reputation of Cambodia […] the story (that Cambodia was a bad country) that he posted was watched by millions of people […] and just 2 weeks ago, someone reposted the case of two Taiwanese kids, a YouTuber and/or a TikToker, who wanted to be famous, coming to Cambodia and pretended to be kidnapped […] they used Cambodia as a business […] when we implement the laws strictly, the news was broadcast in Taiwan, most Taiwanese commenters do not support them […] If there is any distortion, we must respond. Relevant institutions must be informed immediately […]
(8) Protecting Cambodia from bad image for the millions of Cambodians
Some may say what they want about us making excuses […] the (National Committee for the Combat against) Human Trafficking, the Ministry of Interior, the National Police, the Military Police, ministries, institutions and each capital city and province are trying to implement their duties […] for the reduction and prevention of the human trafficking issue. However, if you come to smear us, we have the right to defend ourselves. Protecting Cambodia is not protecting the government, but protecting the image of Cambodia, the millions of Cambodian citizens in the country. It is not permissible for Cambodians to go abroad and be seen as coming from a country (where human trafficking or crimes are committed). It is our national honor […] we cannot allow foreigners to come and destroy our honor in order to profit from it. We must implement (the law) both on those who sneak into Cambodia to destroy Cambodia (through damaging its) image, and on those who write from outside (the country) based on inaccurate information or with destructive intent. We must respond to defend justice […]
(9) Preventing human trafficking is saving the nation and contributing to reducing and preventing the global network of human trafficking
(Peace that has been prevailing now for) 26 years (is a) short (time yet). In the 500-year history, (the civil war period) had been longer than peace. We must (continue to maintain peace) for hundreds of thousands of years and prevent war from returning […] we must maintain a life of safety, security and peace. We want tourists to come to Cambodia, to run in sports, to celebrate the water festival without fear, with our citizens […] to work (against) and prevent human trafficking is not just for the sake of saving individual or victim, but saving the nation and contributing to reducing and preventing the global network of human trafficking, which affects all citizens around the world. Cambodia cannot intervene to work on behalf of any other country, but Cambodia exercises control over its own country, which will contribute to reducing (global) […]./.