I was in police custody after escaping from my husband. I took out a copy of my passport and presented it to the officer. It was night. He showed me a room for me to rest. The next morning, I was transferred to a larger office where a lot of policemen worked. Around midday, an officer from the Cambodian consulate came to meet me and to talk about my situation. Since I had a copy of my passport, my case was not complicated to address. I was sent to a shelter for temporary stay while they worked out my issue with the police. A day later, a police officer and consulate staff met me and my husband, who had been asked to come in and bring along my passport, to find a solution to the family matter. The police officer asked whether I wanted to return to my husband. I replied no. he sent me to a shelter again and the consulate asked me to stay there and wait for the required documents to be processed. I stayed in the shelter for about two weeks until the consulate officer informed me that the documents were done and I had to buy my ticket home. I told him that I didn’t have money to pay for that. He suggested that I call home and ask my parent to arrange the transfer. My mom managed to get $300 transferred to the officer through his relative in Phnom Penh and finally I flew back home to Cambodia.
Narrative provided by UN-ACT report Human Trafficking Vulnerabilities in Asia
