The Tamesis
Cambodia continues its crackdown on scam venues, with thousands arrested and hundreds deported in recent days.
However, given the scale of such criminal activity across the country, experts at the Center for Monitoring Fraud have serious doubts that the government will actually abandon such businesses, as they have become Cambodia’s largest industry and bring in revenue estimated at 40% of gross national product (GDP).
Raids on scam premises by police and immigration officials have become a semi-regular part of the government’s strategy to counter negative publicity about industrial-scale fraud that has become prevalent in nearly every province since the Covid-19 pandemic. experts say.
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However, the Cambodian regime is now under intense pressure to act, given that China, the United States and many of its Asian neighbors, as well as major donors such as Japan, as well as countries where citizens have died in these locations, such as South Korea, have been pressing for a massive cleanup.
Some 406 foreigners from 9 countries The men were deported from Phnom Penh’s Théco International Airport on Monday, according to the General Department of Immigration, which posted photos (including the one above) of the men queuing to board a flight out of the country.
They are said to be from China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Uganda, Nigeria, South Korea, India, Thailand and Sierra Leone. KiriPost said Chinese citizens accounted for the largest proportion of those deported on Monday, with 140 people in total.
All but 28 of the 406 were men, who may have been among the lucky ones, given that thousands more were arrested or simply released from a series of compounds, often penniless.
Many are struggling without cash, food or identification documents (often confiscated upon arrival) and have been sleeping rough, unsure of how to get home.
Others told local reporters that they had been offered jobs at other scam centers, which allegedly said they could continue such work and could come and go “freely.”
“Humanitarian crisis”
Human rights group Amnesty International estimates that thousands of people have been released or escaped from at least 17 scam sites across Cambodia in recent weeks. Interviews with survivors revealed that some of them “suffered severe abuse, including rape and torture,” the report said.
The countries most in difficulty are from outside the region, such as Brazil, Bangladesh, Nigeria and other parts of Africa, which have no representation in Phnom Penh, do not have the funds to bring their citizens back, or simply have policies in place not to do so.
Amnesty International accuses Cambodian government of ignoring what it says growing humanitarian crisis.
Montes Ferrer, Amnesty International’s regional research director, said: “The mass exodus from the scam has created a humanitarian crisis on the streets, but is ignored by the Cambodian government. Amid scenes of chaos and suffering, thousands of traumatized survivors are left to fend for themselves without state support.”
“This is an international crisis on Cambodian soil. Our researchers met with people from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. They urgently need consular assistance to help them get home and out of harm’s way.”
On Saturday (January 31), more than 2,000 foreigners from nine countries were detained after an incident. Massive attack in Bawit city In Svay Rieng Province. Most of them are Chinese, local media said, and may be in desperate need of work due to a severe economic slowdown in the country.
About 59 Vietnamese were deported that day, and there were reports that more Vietnamese were allowed to return to neighboring countries.
“The number of reports to the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh of Indonesians previously involved in online fraud syndicates continues to increase,” the Indonesian Embassy said in a statement on Saturday.
“From January 16 to January 30, we have recorded 2,795 Indonesian citizens,” the statement said.
At least 36 Indonesian nationals were deported on Friday, with another 30 due to return to Indonesia over the weekend.
The Malaysian embassy said last week that Malaysia had also “rescued and repatriated” 29 Cambodian citizens who were “victims of cybercriminal syndicates”.
The Philippine government also repatriated 13 Filipinos identified as victims of human trafficking last Sunday, the Department of Migrant Workers in Manila said in a statement.
The latest raids follow the arrest of a Chinese tycoon last month. Chen ZhiHe was extradited to China in October after being sanctioned by the United States and Britain.
The arrest of the “scam billionaire” has put a spotlight on Cambodia and its ruling elite, who are said to be directly linked to some of the scams and unwilling to shut them down due to the large amounts of money they bring in.
Some 13,557 people were deported from Cambodia last year, according to the immigration department.
See also:
Notorious Myanmar fraud mafia member executed in China
“Fraud billionaire” Chen Zhi arrested in Cambodia and flown to China
Countries seize US$700 million in Prince Group assets in pursuit of “fraudulent billionaire”
US targets multi-billion dollar fraud network in Myanmar and Cambodia
US, UK praised for fraud hub sanctioning and seizing $15 billion in Bitcoin
Cambodia’s fraud hub has tense relations with countries near and far
U.S. sanctions Cambodian Karen warlord’s money laundering ring
UN says Southeast Asian criminal networks rely on Telegram, cryptocurrencies
