PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Thirteen women from the Philippines have been convicted on human trafficking-related charges for acting as surrogates in Cambodia for a ring selling babies to foreigners for cash.
The women were each sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of selling, buying or exchanging a person for cross-border transfer, the Kandal Provincial Court said late Monday.
According to the verdict, two of the four years in prison were suspended, meaning they won't have to be served unless they're found guilty of another crime.
The women are held at a police hospital outside Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, and authorities have previously said they would not have to serve prison time until after giving birth.
The women can appeal the verdict, said court spokesperson So Sarin. He refused to comment on how many were still pregnant, or what would happen to the babies after they have given birth.
Developing countries have been popular for surrogacy because costs are much lower compared to the United States and Australia, where surrogate services could cost around $150,000.
The Cambodia case was unusual because surrogates normally are employed in their own countries, not transported elsewhere.
Authorities have said the business that recruited the women was based in Thailand, and that their food and accommodation in Cambodia was organized there.
The women were arrested in late September in a raid on a villa in Kandal province, where authorities found 20 Filipinos and four Vietnamese.
At the time the women were charged in October, Cambodia’s Interior Ministry said the ringleaders had not been identified. It said, however, that it considered the women offenders who conspired with the organizers to act as surrogates and then sell the babies for money, rather than victims.
Eleven of the women who were not pregnant were deported, and the 13 Filipinos were charged under a provision on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. The law was updated in 2016 to ban commercial surrogacy after Cambodia became a popular destination for foreigners seeking women to give birth to their children.
Cambodia has a bad reputation for human trafficking, especially in connection with online scams in which foreigners recruited for work under false pretenses are kept in conditions of virtual slavery and help perpetrate criminal fraud online against targets in many countries.
The surrogacy business boomed in Cambodia after it was put under tight restrictions in neighboring Thailand, as well as in India and Nepal.
In July 2017, a Cambodian court sentenced an Australian woman and two Cambodian associates to 1 1/2 years in prison for providing commercial surrogacy services.
FILE -A Cambodian vendor transports lotus flowers past King Norodom Sihamoni's portrait in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith), File)
The commencement of the holiday season often means the lengthening of to-do lists.
There are lights to hang, cards to mail, cookies to bake and, of course, gifts to buy. Gift exchanges, whether they’re among friends, family or co-workers, can be a fun way to get in the holiday spirit. But can also be another stressor during a busy time of year.
Secret Santa exchanges — where participants are assigned a gift recipient and tasked with finding them a perfect present within a price limit — sometimes mean that those in friend groups are paired with “frenemies,” someone inevitably draws themselves, or colleagues who are virtually strangers are matched up.
Those possible pitfalls inspired Peter Imburg to create Elfster, a free online Secret Santa organizer, after he saw the time and effort it took to coordinate the logistics of a gift exchange with his family over 20 years ago.
More top-down organization, he says, helps things run more smoothly.
Elfster, for instance, creates pairings, asks for wish lists, offers gift suggestions at different price points and sends reminders, among other features meant to make the organizational hurdles of a gift exchange less daunting.
“The organizer is like the hero. They make it all happen," Imburg said, adding that his site aims "to make it a lot easier for the organizer to do that with a minimal amount of effort.”
Cameron Rogers, a New Jersey-based social media content creator and podcast host on wellness and motherhood, understands the stress that gift exchanges can bring up.
“Having to give generic gifts to people I’m not necessarily close with is extremely difficult,” Rogers said. “I can pick a good gift for my husband or my kids or my mom, but for people who I don’t know the ins and outs of their lives, I think it’s hard to pick something that you know they’re actually going to enjoy.”
She recently shared a guide to Secret Santa gifts under $50 on her social media channels, emphasizing how challenging it can be to find something within a set price range that will be well-received.
Gifts with a specific purpose — kitchen gadgets, home items or winter gear — and gifts that have a personalized aspect like a monogram are good go-to options for anyone feeling lost after receiving their Secret Santa assignment, she said.
Imburg said the “gift gurus” at Elfster also have suggestions, especially for recipients who aren’t offering any clues as to what they’d like. In a similar vein as Rogers, the Elfster team offered ideas for some practical gifts, like water bottles, blankets and massage guns. Other no-nonsense home and kitchen items, like food storage containers, charging stations and more are featured on the site’s “Top Trending Gift Ideas for 2024” list.
Gift cards, although they are not particularly glamorous, are an essentially foolproof option, Rogers said, and they won’t leave your recipient wondering where they’ll find room on their shelf for another mug or book.
“I don’t want to give someone something solely to check a box,” Rogers said. “I want them to enjoy it, instead of being like, ‘What do I do with this now?’”
Some gift-givers find that Secret Santa (and its many counterparts like White Elephant and Yankee Swap) actually cuts down on stress and spending, as it's often done in place of giving individual presents to each member of a group.
Nicole Troiano of Cranston, Rhode Island, finds them to be a fun way to handle holidays with large groups — even if co-workers may need to ask around to get specifics on their assigned person.
“It’s fun to do it that way and think about something that would be good for that person,” she said. “And then, when they open it, they’re like, ‘Oh my God!’”
By the weekend after Thanksgiving, Troiano had already purchased and wrapped her gift for the exchange she’s taking part in this year. After her swap, a lucky participant will be the new owner of a cutting board, two bottles of wine wearing bottle-size ugly sweaters, and gourmet chocolates.
FILE - Presents appear at the War Childhood Museum in Sarajevo, Bosnia on Dec. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut, File)
FILE - A shopper carries a Christmas-themed bag in London on Dec. 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)
