KATHMANDU:- Twenty Nepalis who were involved in illegal activities including online fraud and who were staying in Cambodia without visas have been rescued and repatriated.

They were rescued and repatriated today with the initiative of the Nepali Embassy in Thailand and the support of the Cambodian government.

They reached Cambodia through various means after being lured by various individuals and were subjected to online fraud at illegally operated ‘online scamming’ centers and casinos there, where they were also forced into other illegal activities.

The embassy has received information that Nepali citizens are being employed in Cambodia for illegal work, including online fraud, and are staying without visas or overstaying their visas. The embassy has reported that many have complained that passports of those employed in scam centers are being confiscated by the company or lost during transfers from scam centers.

In such cases, the Nepali Embassy in Bangkok has been issuing one-way travel permits free of charge to help them return to Nepal. According to Cambodia’s tourism statistics, in 2021, 101 Nepalis went to Cambodia on tourist visas, while in 2022, 1,977, in 2023, 2,940, in 2024, 6,404, and in 2025, 9,676 Nepalis went to Cambodia.

The embassy has also requested everyone to go for foreign employment only after obtaining a work permit as per the criteria set by the Government of Nepal and not to fall prey to someone’s temptation and come for foreign employment under the pretext of visiting countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, etc. under the guise of earning a lot of money quickly.