Five Cambodian migrant workers were on Friday arrested by Thai immigration police at the Khlong Lek International Border Checkpoint in Thailand, after they illegally crossed through a hole dug under a fence.
A National Police report said that authorities in Thailand were checking a fence in Aranyaprathet district when they caught the migrating workers.
The report said the hole, which was less than a metre wide, was dug under the fence by brokers to transport workers into the country at a rate of about $20 per person. Thai police have now taken the people arrested to the Sa Kaeo provincial police office for further questioning in order to track down the brokers.
Banteay Meanchey provincial police chief Ath Khem said he had not yet received any information on the case. “We will investigate first, we do not know where those workers came from,” he said.
Poipet checkpoint chief Sim Sam Ath said he has also not received any information about the incident, which took place nearby.
Soum Chankea, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said in the past workers had been crossing the border illegally through the roof of a building but had now turned to digging holes.
