KATHMANDU, April 1: A total of 12 Nepalis who fell victim to illegal online scam operations in Cambodia have been rescued and brought back to Nepal on Tuesday.
The victims traveled to Cambodia through informal channels after being lured by promises of lucrative employment and stayed there without valid visas.
The Nepali Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, carried out the rescue and repatriation operation with support from the Cambodian government. The Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) in Cambodia also facilitated the rescue efforts.
The victims were forced to work in illegally operated online scamming centres and casinos, and, in some cases, were involved in other illegal activities
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The embassy said that efforts were underway to identify and repatriate other Nepali nationals who were stranded or facing difficult conditions in Cambodia.
The embassy has reported that Nepali workers in Cambodia were being exploited in an online fraud scheme and other illegal work, often overstaying visas or residing without proper documentation.
Embassy authorities have received complaints from victims that their passports were confiscated by employers or lost during transfers between online scamming centers.
In such cases, the embassy has been issuing free one-way travel permits to facilitate their homecoming, the embassy informed.
Nepali citizens residing illegally in Cambodia have been urged to contact the Nepali Embassy in Thailand or the NRNA representatives in Cambodia to facilitate their return home.
According to Cambodia's tourism data, the number of Nepalis traveling to Cambodia on visit visas has increased sharply in recent years, from 101 in 2021 to 1,977 in 2022. The number kept rising to 2,940 in 2023, 6,404 in 2024, and 9,676 in 2025.
The embassy, thus, has called on the Nepali citizens to follow official procedures, including obtaining a labor permit before going abroad for employment.
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