By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Over 600 Kenyan nationals who were lured to Cambodia with a promise of high-paying jobs but ended up being kept against their will in a trafficking scheme are seeking court orders to compel the Kenyan government rescue and bring them home.
According to papers filed in Kenya’s High Court on Monday, the East African nation’s citizens were kept in a guarded compound surrounded by high perimeter walls and barbed wire to prevent escape.
The court filings further added that they were forced to work continuously for 16 hours to meet extreme targets and several suffered stabbings and carried untreated injuries.
The court documents did not state whether the Kenyans had been working in a scam centre, such as those which Cambodian authorities have arrested in recent weeks in a compound, believed to have been involved in cyber fraud.
The filings say that after Cambodian authorities raided the compound, their captors escaped. Those arrested said they are “currently hounded in a local shelter in Cambodia”, lacking food and in need of urgent medical care.
The arrested persons are also asking 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 however says it cannot afford flights back to Kenya.
Reuters quoted a spokesperson for Kenya’s foreign affairs ministry as saying that she was not aware of the case.
