Lawyer Group Seeks Repatriation of Kenyans Stranded in Cambodia

Hundreds of Kenyan nationals have petitioned Kenya’s High Court, alleging they were trafficked to Cambodia under false job promises, confined in guarded compounds, and left stranded without passports or funds to return home.

Legal Pressure On Consular Duty

The petition, filed Monday, asks the High Court to compel Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry and other state agencies to provide emergency travel documents, consular protection, and repatriation assistance. The applicants cite constitutional safeguards against torture and slavery, arguing the state has a duty of care toward citizens abroad.

Court filings describe more than 600 Kenyans held in a guarded compound “surrounded by high perimeter walls and barbed wire.”

The group alleges continuous 16-hour work shifts under “extreme targets,” with several individuals suffering stab wounds and untreated injuries.

Following a raid by Cambodian authorities, the petition states, the captors fled, leaving the Kenyans “hounded in a local shelter in Cambodia,” lacking food and urgent medical care.

Conditions Inside The Compound

The filings do not specify the precise nature of the work performed. They note, however, that Cambodian authorities have intensified crackdowns on cyber fraud centers in recent weeks. Such facilities have proliferated across Southeast Asia, often linked to transnational trafficking operations that lure foreign workers with fraudulent recruitment campaigns.

The petition further claims Cambodian authorities instructed the group to leave the country by February 28, 2026, warning of possible legal action and imprisonment.

The applicants state they cannot afford airfare and that their travel documents were confiscated by those who facilitated their relocation.

Recruitment Pipeline And Red Flags

Lawyers representing the group outlined a pattern consistent with deceptive recruitment practices. “It started by some funny adverts,” one representative said, describing online job offers in Cambodia and Thailand. Within “five minutes after application,” candidates were told they had been accepted, with visas “processed in less than five hours.”

The legal team raised procedural concerns about departures from Kenya. “They were allowed out of this country without a return ticket,” the lawyer said, questioning how travelers could exit “with only one way ticket.”

The lawyers also stated that attempts to seek assistance from Kenya’s embassy in Thailand were unsuccessful.

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 requests for comment. The High Court is scheduled to hear the matter later on Tuesday.

Regional Pattern Of Coercive Schemes

The case reflects a broader trend involving African nationals caught in exploitative overseas schemes. Recent investigations and diplomatic statements have highlighted networks that lure recruits through false employment offers, including cases tied to cyber fraud operations and foreign conflict zones.

African states have also accused Russia of drawing fighters into the war in Ukraine through clandestine channels targeting Ugandan, Kenyan, and South African nationals.