Home | China | World | Business Cambodian Illegal Migrants Flood into Thailand: Aid Groups MON, FEB 25, 2002     Aid groups working at Thai-Cambodia border said that the number of Cambodians illegally crossing the border to Thailand in searching of work is soaring, the Bangkok Post reported here Monday. The International Organization for Migration (ION) estimated that 50,000 to 70,000 illegal migrants pass through Poipet-Aranyaprathet on their way to Thailand every year. The Cambodian Women's Crisis Center (CWCC) calculated that 13,988 people were caught entering Thailand illegal through Poipet between May and October 2001 compared to 11,438 during all of 2000. The trend of increase also had been confirmed by Thai police who had handled a sharply rising number of deportations in recent months, the report said. The aid groups said that the illegal migrants were generally motivated by economic need, and went to Thailand in searching of jobs in textile factories, the agriculture industry or as housemaid. According to the report, Cambodia's average annual income is just 320 U.S. dollars and workers can expect to earn more than eight times that figure in rural Thailand or 40 times as much in Bangkok. Meanwhile, aid groups also indicated that the human trafficking was more significant and active then ever, the report said, adding that survey showed that some 69 percent of illegal migrants were victims of traffickers. Editor:Zhong Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved