Published : 04 Sep 2026, 02:48 AM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:47 AM
A group of 38 Bangladeshis who travelled to Cambodia on promises of jobs have returned home after falling victim to scams.
They arrived at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on a Thai Airways flight after 12pm on Thursday, BRAC said.
It added that around 1,800 Bangladeshis are still waiting to return after 583 came home from Cambodia in June.
BRAC’s Migration Programme provided the returnees with emergency assistance, counselling and financial support to help them reach their homes.
The latest group returned after the Cambodian government began allowing foreigners staying beyond their permitted period to leave voluntarily without paying fines from Sept 1.
Officials from BRAC’s Migration Programme, citing the returnees, said some Bangladeshis involved in human trafficking in Cambodia intimidate and pressure victims trying to return home.
Many are taken to Cambodia with promises of high-paying jobs in developed countries before being forced into online scams, they said. The victims also face physical and mental abuse.
Data from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) show that 15,921 Bangladeshis travelled to Cambodia for work over the past 18 months.
Returnees, however, say thousands of Bangladeshis are still living in dire conditions in Cambodia after failing to find jobs or falling victim to scams.
Many of the 583 Bangladeshis who returned in June had BMET clearance, according to the report.
Earlier, eight Bangladeshis returned on Jan 22 from a “cyber scam centre” in Myanmar, while another 18 returned on Sept 19, 2025.
They were also lured with promises of good jobs and taken to Myanmar through the Thai border.
After reaching Myanmar, their passports and mobile phones were confiscated and they were forced into cyber scams.
Workers are recruited through advertisements for attractive positions such as computer operators, call centre executives and customer service staff. Jobseekers are then lured through fake websites, emails, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram before being held at gunpoint and forced to carry out online scams.
