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Ronju, from Mymensingh district in Bangladesh, said they walked for miles through forested areas to reach a nearby town. At one point, they found buses and hired them to continue their journey.

On the way, immigration police stopped and detained all of them, although they said they had valid visas and work permits, except for a few. “We were divided into two groups -- one group detained in a camp and the other in a temple,” he said.

After checking their passports, about 50 of them were released, while the rest remain detained as of yesterday, Ronju told this correspondent.

“The immigration police have asked us to bring 800 dollars in two days from home for sending us back. We don’t want to go home,” he said.

Another migrant worker, Jobaer Ahmed, alleged that immigration police took away their mobile phones and passports. “We were even slapped and humiliated by them,” he said.

Jobaer said he had travelled to Cambodia a year ago after spending Tk 5 lakh, and returning at this point was not feasible.

Anisur Rahman Khan, executive director of migrant rights body IMA Research Foundation, wrote to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) offices in Dhaka and Thailand on Saturday, seeking support for the migrants.

Bangladesh does not have a diplomatic mission in Cambodia, but its mission in Thailand oversees the country.

Contacted, Bangladesh Ambassador to Thailand Faiyaz Murshid Kazi told this correspondent yesterday that he had already written to the Cambodian foreign ministry seeking safe shelter for the Bangladeshi migrants.

“I think they can stay there until the situation stabilises,” he said.