In a chilling exposure of modern-day slavery, hundreds of educated but desperately unemployed Kenyan youths have found themselves ensnared in a brutal Southeast Asian human trafficking syndicate.
Their desperate plea for judicial intervention highlights a massive diplomatic failure.
More than 600 Kenyans who were lured to Cambodia by the promise of jobs but say they ended up being kept against their will in a trafficking scheme are seeking court orders to compel the Kenyan government to bring them home.
The papers filed in Kenya’s High Court on Monday say the Kenyan citizens were kept in a guarded compound surrounded by high perimeter walls and barbed wire to prevent escape.
They were forced to work continuously for 16 hours to meet extreme targets and several suffered stabbings and carried untreated injuries, the court filings say.
They did not say whether the Kenyans had been working in a scam centre, such as those which Cambodian authorities have been cracking down on in recent weeks. The centres, used for cyber fraud, have proliferated in Southeast Asia in recent years.
The filings say that after Cambodian authorities raided the compound, the captors escaped.
The group says it is “currently hounded in a local shelter in Cambodia”, lacking food and in need of urgent medical care.
The group has asked the court to issue urgent orders compelling Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry and other state agencies to offer consular protection, issue emergency travel documents and repatriate them.
Their petition cites constitutional protections against torture and slavery, and argues the state has a duty to protect citizens abroad.
The court filings say Cambodian authorities have told the group of Kenyans to leave the country by February 28, 2026, or face legal action and imprisonment. The group says it cannot afford flights back to Kenya.
A spokesperson for Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry said she was not aware of the case. Cambodia’s interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The High Court is due to hear the case later on Tuesday.
This catastrophic situation is a direct, undeniable symptom of the crippling youth unemployment crisis ravaging Kenya and the broader East African region. Driven by absolute economic desperation at home, skilled young professionals are falling prey to highly sophisticated, well-funded international trafficking rings masquerading as legitimate corporate recruiters, leading to unspeakable human rights abuses abroad.
Over 600 Kenyan citizens trapped in exploitative scam compounds in Cambodia have launched a desperate High Court petition, demanding immediate state-sponsored evacuation from horrifying forced labour conditions.
In a chilling exposure of modern-day slavery, hundreds of educated but desperately unemployed Kenyan youths have found themselves ensnared in a brutal Southeast Asian human trafficking syndicate. Their desperate plea for judicial intervention highlights a massive diplomatic failure.
This catastrophic situation is a direct, undeniable symptom of the crippling youth unemployment crisis ravaging Kenya and the broader East African region. Driven by absolute economic desperation at home, skilled young professionals are falling prey to highly sophisticated, well-funded international trafficking rings masquerading as legitimate corporate recruiters, leading to unspeakable human rights abuses abroad.
The horrifying ordeal has officially spilled into the Nairobi Milimani Law Courts. The victims, represented by high-profile lawyers Danstan Omari and Shadrach Wambui, have filed a monumental constitutional petition directly suing the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs and the Ministry of Interior. The legal action seeks urgent, compulsory orders forcing the state to swiftly evacuate and repatriate the stranded nationals.
According to the harrowing affidavits submitted to the court, the victims were systematically lured out of Kenya by individuals posing as legitimate, highly connected employment agents. These fraudulent operators promised highly lucrative, professional positions in customer service, digital data entry, and cryptocurrency trading hubs purportedly located in Vietnam and Thailand.
After liquidating familial assets to pay exorbitant, highly inflated recruitment and travel expenses, the Kenyans were trafficked entirely against their will into Cambodia. Upon arrival, their passports and communication devices were instantly confiscated, and they were forcibly confined within heavily guarded, high-walled compounds lined with razor wire.
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