Thirteen women from the Philippines have been convicted on human trafficking-related charges in Cambodia for participating in a scheme that involved selling babies to foreigners for cash. The women were each sentenced to four years in prison, with two of the years being suspended. They were found guilty of selling, buying, or exchanging a person for cross-border transfer, as per the Kandal Provincial Court's verdict.
The women, who are currently held at a police hospital outside Phnom Penh, will not serve their prison time until after giving birth. It was reported that the surrogacy business that recruited them was based in Thailand, and their stay in Cambodia was arranged from there.
