40 people escape from Cambodian casino to Vietnam

They say they escaped ill-treatment by employers at the casino.

Vietnam.- Authorities in An Giang province, Vietnam, have found 40 people who had swum across a river from Cambodia after escaping from a casino where they were working. According to Vn Express, police have taken in 35 men and five women but had not verified their identities.

It’s reported that 42 Vietnamese citizens had fled from the casino but one was caught by the owner and another was carried away by the river. Those who escaped said they went to Cambodia to work at online casinos, but were overworked and weren’t paid or allowed to rest.

In July, The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia posted a statement on its website reminding Chinese citizens not to associate with online gambling syndicates. The statement came after several online gambling syndicates were found to have posted fake job advertisements to lure Chinese nationals who were then kidnapped for ransom.

Cambodia has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand to tackle online gambling hub operators and call-centre scammers. Cooperation between government agencies led to the shutdown of 742 gambling sites in the first three months of the year.