Africans Detained, Sleeping on Streets After Months Stranded in Cambodia

A former scam compound called Mango 2 in Cambodia's Takeo province on May 23, 2026 | Mech Dara/Mekong Independent/Creative Commons

In an article for NYSEAN Partner, Mekong Independent, Mech Dara and Danielle Keeton-Olsen write about the experiences of Africans who have been detained and stranded in Cambodia after escaping the region’s scam compounds.

Kenzo left Lesotho for a job in Cambodia in December — and when he got to Kampot province’s Wo Casino, he had no choice but to scam, he said. 

“It’s either we did and did it well or we would be tortured,” he said.

Months after he was able to escape, he said he similarly had no choice but to sleep outside the gates of an NGO called Caritas, where he had waited and slept for four nights and five days.

For those five days, staff and guards of Caritas said they could not help. “Our help is limited,” he recalled. Kenzo told a reporter via text that he would have even appreciated it if he could sleep on the ground inside the gates in safety rather than outside.

“Indeed when they said ‘good intentions and reality never go together,’ they told the truth, we came there running seeking help, only to be taken into custody,” Kenzo said over text messages with a reporter. 

On June 2, Kandal police detained 18 foreigners who had been sleeping outside the gates of the NGO after they had escaped trafficking networks and forced work in Cambodia. The people who were detained, and other foreigners who say they escaped scam operations, say the situation is growing more dangerous for those who can’t yet afford a plane ticket out of Cambodia. Some have been raped while sleeping on streets.