A Cambodian court has sentenced 13 pregnant Filipino women to four years in prison for acting as surrogate mothers. This latest ruling is part of the country's ongoing crackdown on the outlawed practice.
The 13 women were among a group of 24 foreign women detained by Cambodian police in Kandal province in September. They were charged with attempted cross-border human trafficking. After a trial, the court sentenced the 13 to four years in prison, with two years suspended.
The court cited strong evidence indicating that the women intended to sell their babies to third parties in exchange for money, which is considered an act of human trafficking. The court did not provide details on the future of the babies born to these women.
A Cambodian woman who cooked for the Filipino women was also sentenced to two months and one day in prison as an accomplice. Seven other Filipino women and four Vietnamese women, who were not pregnant, were deported from Cambodia.
Cambodia imposed a ban on commercial surrogacy in 2016, following a similar ban in neighboring Thailand. Despite the ban, demand for surrogacy services remains high, particularly from Chinese couples.
Sources in Cambodia have reported that couples, primarily from China, are willing to pay significant sums of money to surrogacy agencies to find Cambodian women to carry their children. In 2018, an Australian nurse who operated a surrogacy clinic in Cambodia was jailed for 18 months.
Dozens of Cambodian women who agreed to be surrogates for Chinese clients have also been arrested in recent years. However, they were often released on bail after agreeing to keep the children.
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