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Cambodian workers’ return from Thailand not smooth

By Sopheng Cheang
Published June 17, 2014 2:11pm ET
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Cambodian workers’ return from Thailand not smooth
Cambodian migrant workers get off a Thai truck upon their arrival from Thailand at a Cambodia-Thailand's international border gate in Poipet, Cambodia, Tuesday, June 17, 2014. The number of Cambodians who have returned home from Thailand this month after a threatened crackdown on foreigners working illegally has topped 160,000, a Cambodian official said Monday. Thai officials insist the cross-border movement is voluntary and is not forced repatriation. They say Thai military and government resources were used to transport workers who decided to return home after being laid off because they were working illegally. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) | Heng Sinith

POIPET, Cambodia (AP) — As the number of Cambodian workers returning home under pressure from Thailand approached 200,000 on Tuesday, the returnees made troubling allegations about their treatment by Thai authorities.

While rumors of beatings and even killings by the Thai military have not been confirmed, several returnees have told of being extorted by soldiers or having relatives taken away, with their whereabouts still unknown.

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Cambodia Thailand World