PHNOM PENH, DEC 3 – A Cambodian court sentenced 13 pregnant Filipino women to four years in prison for acting as surrogates, in the latest crackdown on the illegal practice.
A total of 13 of them were among the 24 foreign women arrested by the Cambodian police in Kandal province last September and charged with attempted cross-border human trafficking, according to the Kandal court statement.
Following the trial, the court yesterday sentenced 13 of them to four years in prison, although two years of the sentence will be suspended, the statement said.
The court said it had strong evidence showing that the 13 of them had the intention of having a child to sell to a third person in exchange for money, which is an act of human trafficking.
The court statement did not provide details about the future of the 13 children when they are born.
A Cambodian woman was also jailed for two months and a day for complicity, the court said.
Another seven Filipino women and four Vietnamese women, who are not pregnant, have been repatriated from Cambodia, said the Vice Chairman of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking Cambodia, Chou Bun Eng, to AFP today. – AFP
