'We will be sold’: Kenyan woman in Cambodia pleads for rescue from alleged traffickers

A Kenyan woman in Cambodia has issued an urgent plea for help, saying she and more than 100 other Kenyans are being held under what she described as “threatening conditions” and fears they may be trafficked or harmed.

In a recorded account, 28-year-old Nancy Akinyi from Kibra said she travelled to Cambodia in May 2025 after applying online for what she believed was a legitimate cosmetology job.

She told The Star that she had sent videos demonstrating her skills and later received a ticket and visa from the recruiters.

“I asked them why the visa was only for one month,” she said. “They told me they don’t trust people from Africa and that when I arrive, they would change it to a working visa.”

According to Akinyi, a driver picked her up at the airport and took her to a company that held her for several days. She said she was later moved to another company where “they were using drugs, they were mistreating me, they were doing everything they want.”

Akinyi said she frequently lost consciousness and could not understand what was happening around her. “I didn’t know what was going on because every time I was sleeping, I didn’t understand myself,” she said.

She said she worked at the first company for four to five months before being sent to a second company, where she claims she faced further mistreatment. She said some of the women she stayed with believed they were about to be sold again in December.

“Some friends outside alerted the police,” Akinyi said. “The friends outside are the ones who rescued us. They called the police for us. When the police came, they rescued all of us.”

However, Akinyi said the relief did not last. She said she was later taken to another facility where she expected migration officers to process her return home. Instead, she said she was instructed to buy her own ticket, which she did, but the officers allegedly declined to accept it.

“I got my ticket, but they told me it was not okay. I complained, asked how they knew that, yet they did not take me to the airport, and they took me to the centre,” she said. “From that day till today, I have never seen a migration officer. I have never seen the police there.”

Akinyi said she has now been locked inside a deportation holding facility for weeks and fears being handed back to the groups she alleges trafficked her. “I see they have another deal to sell us,” she said. “Other Kenyans are outside there in similar conditions, and they have refused to go to this migration. The migration also says they don’t want Kenyans. I don’t know the reason," Akinyi alleged.

She also claimed detainees are being asked to pay 300 US dollars to secure their release and that she and others have been beaten and denied pay for months. “They refused my ticket back then even though they did not take me to the airport,” she said. “I think they want me for my kidneys.”

In a written plea, she said more than 100 Kenyans were being held “under threatening conditions” and that they were “in a situation that we may be sold into human trafficking.”

“We are not free to leave. We are intimidated, and our lives are in danger,” the message read. “We urgently request immediate intervention, protection, and rescue. Please act fast. Our lives are at risk.”

Akinyi also alleged that Cambodian authorities treated Africans differently from other groups. “My case is with the police, but they detained us (Africans) and let the Chinese go,” she said.

The Star attempted to reach a Cambodian migration officer for comment, but he did not respond to follow-up questions by the time of publication. Attempts to seek clarification from Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Korir Sing’Oei were also unsuccessful.

For Nancy, every hour feels risky. She said she has not been formally processed, does not know why she is being held, and fears the people who allegedly trafficked her are trying to regain access to her and others.

“We will be killed or sold,” she said. “Please, we need help.”

Her nine-year-old daughter remains in Nairobi under the care of relatives. “I am a single mother,” she said in her message. “I just wanted to work.”