Ugandans in Cambodia Take on Debt, Sell Cattle to Return Home

'Sean' pushes his luggage on a cart toward the Techo Takhmao International Airport on March 5, 2026 | Mech Dara/Mekong Independent/Creative Commons

In an article for Mekong Independent, Mech Dara interviews Africans who say they were trafficked into Cambodian scam compounds and are making significant sacrifices trying to make their way home.

After three hours in the Techo Takhmao International Airport processing his overstayed visa, Sean was able to board a plane and return to Uganda.

He knows he’ll have to start working immediately after he returns, as his mother had to take out a loan and sell her only cow to buy his ticket out of Cambodia.

“Inside I know that I have to recover the debt for my mom because she has borrowed the money and sold the cow that she loved so much,” he told Mekong Independent over Telegram, after he had landed back in Uganda. “There is nothing to do for her because she needs to help me return home.”

Africans who say they were trafficked into and detained in scam compounds are starting to return home, but most like Sean had to make significant sacrifices for their ticket home.

Without embassies in Cambodia, people from African countries say they didn’t know where to turn after they joined mass escapes from once-gated scam companies throughout January and February. Some were able to find guesthouses that would not require them to show passports, or look the other way when more people crammed into a room than they should.