Phnom Penh: Cambodia’s embassy in Malaysia has issued a rare press statement, “completely rejecting” a Radio Free Asia report published on Tuesday, entitled “Cambodian Workers in Malaysia Accuse Embassy Officials of Exploitation”. The embassy says the report is “baseless, incitement and intentional defamation” of it.

The embassy says any and all Cambodian nationals, whether they come to stay and work legally in Malaysia or are there without legal residence documents and intend to return to Cambodia, can return under their own steam. Undocumented workers can also return to Cambodia on their own through the Malaysian Immigration Recalibration Program, as announced by the embassy last December and again last month.

It says those with expired, damaged or missing passports can apply for a "free" temporary travel document at the embassy and that no embassy staff are seeking to exploit those affected by the pandemic.

It has pointed out that some workers are still seeking reliance on private agencies or brokers to prepare documents, agreeing to pay a fee for a Covid 19 test kit, plane ticket, Malaysian immigration fines etc. it says those payments are made to private companies and are not handled by the embassy at all. It says anyone who comes across another person trying to use the name of the embassy or one of its officials to claim a fee for these services should contact the embassy and report the incident immediately.