‘The truth should be known’: Cambodian Covid camps shut as Irish man exposes dire conditions

Karl Mohan spent a week in a Covid quarantine camp and documented his experience.

A Dublin man who shared his recent experience in a Cambodian Covid camp says he does not regret speaking out and exposing the camp’s dire conditions.

In order to leave the camp, the man was forced by Cambodian authorities to make a formal apology to the Cambodian government for embarrassing them by documenting the conditions.

Karl Mohan, 26, spent a week in one of several Covid quarantine camps in Siem Reap after receiving a false positive on a PCR test when trying to fly to Sri Lanka with his girlfriend on January 16.

The camps, known locally as “care centres”, have been widely criticised for their prison-like conditions and have since been shut down in recent days by the Cambodian government.

On January 21, just two days before Mr Mohan was allowed to leave the camp, the Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen announced the relaxation of mandatory state quarantine, allowing natives and foreigners to quarantine at home or in hotels.

Mr Mohan believes this was due to his documentation of his stay at the camp going viral on social media, telling the Irish Examiner this week it was “the best part” of his experience.

“Seeing people be reunited with their families after weeks of being in there, it gave the whole ordeal a purpose for me,” he said.

Mr Mohan and his girlfriend have been globe-trotting since September 2021, having already spent several months in Africa and Thailand.

The young couple spent a month in Cambodia, purchasing special Covid travel insurance that they were later told doesn’t cover quarantine or isolation due to positive results on a PCR test.

“We did our research, but it was never mentioned that if you catch Covid that you’d be sent to a camp,” he explained.

The pair were told they required a PCR test in order to leave the country and fly on to Sri Lanka, and managed to source a testing centre where they paid $130 per test.

“We thought that was a bit weird considering the average Cambodian lives on less than a dollar a day, we’d paid $60 to $80 elsewhere for PCRs,” he added.

Karl Mohan said he took the experience 'with a pinch of salt'.

They returned to their hotel before being told to come back the following day to receive their results, with Mr Mohan being told he had tested positive.

They headed back to their hotel and the next morning they were told to head back to the testing centre, where Mr Mohan was told he needed to go to hospital.

“The hospital was the start of the end,” he said. “It was falling apart and most of the clinical work was being done outside.” An X-ray was performed on Mr Mohan, all while he pleaded for another PCR test to prove he’d been given false result.

“Next thing, an ambulance pulls up and people in hazmat suits get out and point at me to get in.” Mr Mohan and his girlfriend were dropped at the Covid camp, and the bewildered couple tried to make sense of what was happening.

“We thought it was a joke, it was only for another tourist who explained the situation to us. She said I had to stay for the first seven days, and after that I’d be tested every two days and once I had two negative results I could leave.” 

He said there were people in the camp who had been there for several weeks who had long-Covid and couldn’t leave.

Mr Mohan began sharing footage of the camp on social media, with the videos of the wooden beds, dirty toilets and poor sanitation systems going viral in mere days.

There were rabid dogs coming into the camp, and there were thousands of huge poisonous spiders everywhere and snakes – it was absolutely mental.” 

He tried to convince doctors to test him again, adamant he would not be staying overnight in the camp, but said nurses and doctors “ran away” from him.

In a moment of panic, Mr Mohan and his girlfriend fled the camp and returned to their hotel, only to find the local police waiting.

“I demanded another test, and after a four-hour stand-off they agreed but they set me up – they took me straight back to the camp.

“That’s when I realised there was no getting out of there and I just had to play the long game.” 

Thankfully, Mr Mohan’s girlfriend was able to freely visit the camp, as there were no restrictions on visits from friends or family – despite the facility being set up to isolate Covid patients.

Mr Mohan had received another negative PCR result two days into his stay, but was still unable to leave the camp as he needed another negative result two days later.

His posts on a local Cambodia travel page had been viewed by thousands and had even been picked up by local media, and refusing to delete his posts, cleaners were brought into the camp for the first time.

'I had the craic with it, it was by far the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me,' Mr Mohan said.

Mr Mohan’s girlfriend started bringing clean clothes and food to members of the camp who were mostly locals, which he said “raised morale”, along with the camp being cleaned.

He also negotiated with those running the camp to provide the people staying there with bedding to sleep on.

At night-time, Mr Mohan said the camp was locked from the outside, with no medical staff present.

“The cleaners removed a poisonous snake, what if one of us had been bitten in the night? Who would have helped us?” he said.

While in the camp, he was told there was word of a threat being put on his life for documenting the camp.

“In Asia, there's a big big thing about publicly shaming someone. Especially if you publicly shame the government, you go to prison.

“I didn’t know this, so I was sharing away and getting hundreds of messages from people who had family stuck in these camps telling me to keep doing what I was doing.

“I was kind of the fall man for the team, I knew if something was going to happen that it’d happen to me.” 

Mr Mohan said it became apparent very quickly that what he was doing was spreading fast, with a friend living in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh telling him that truck drivers across the city were warned not to pick him up.

The closest Irish embassy, in Vietnam, was made aware of the couple’s situation and assured the couple they would remove Mr Mohan from the camp.

Mr Mohan made a makeshift hut to sleep in while inside the camp.

“There was back and forth between us for a couple of days and then it was just radio silence. We told them there was a threat on my life and our message was seen but never replied to until I was actually out of the camp.” 

Finally, he got another negative PCR test result on day seven and his name was called out over the intercom system to pack his bags and leave.

After bidding farewell to the locals and fellow tourists, Mr Mohan walked to the doctors to get his medical certificate, which would allow him to leave.

As he did, he said he was dragged into a room by about 15 police officers, joined by government officials.

They explained to him that the government were embarrassed by his actions and worried about tourism.

They demanded he write a letter to the Cambodian government apologising for his actions, and to delete his social media posts, threatening to send him to prison if he did not comply.

“I still don’t know what they were making me apologise for, I wasn’t lying, I did nothing wrong,” he told the Irish Examiner.

Finally free, Mr Mohan then fled to the country's capital with his girlfriend, both of whom were inundated with calls from the police demanding they return.

“We have no idea how they got our numbers, we didn’t share them with anyone. We turned our phones on airplane mode until we left the country.” 

The couple are now continuing their travels in Asia, with no plans to return to Cambodia any time soon.

Mr Mohan was sent videos from his former campmates as they were reunited with their families after the prime minister put an end to the camps.

“All the effort resulted in something and it’s just because someone spoke up,” he said.

“I took the whole thing quite lightly,” he laughed. “I was in the army, so sleeping outside and all of that didn’t bother me too much.

“What did affect me was how nobody felt safe to speak up, we were told not to speak up because we’d go missing.

“But I had the craic with it, it was by far the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me.” 

The Department of Foreign Affairs told the Irish Examiner it was “aware of the case and has provided consular assistance”.

“We would continue to encourage those considering travelling to Cambodia to consider the department’s travel advice before making plans,” it added.