Cambodia ‘deliberately ignoring' abuses in brutal scam centres

Telegraph

3 days ago

Cambodian officials are 'deliberately ignoring' abuses committed by crime syndicates trafficking thousands of people, including children, into brutal cyber scam compounds, according to Amnesty International.
In a 240-page report published on Thursday, the human rights group claimed the government is aware of the 'hellish' conditions inside the thriving scam centres, but has chosen to turn a blind eye to widespread torture, human trafficking and modern slavery.
In some instances, there has even been 'coordination and possibly collusion between Chinese compound bosses and the Cambodian police'.
'Survivors of these scamming compounds describe being trapped in a living nightmare – enlisted in criminal enterprises that are operating with the apparent consent of the Cambodian government,' said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general.
​​Montse Ferrer, the organisation's regional research director, added: 'The Cambodian authorities know what is going on inside scamming compounds, yet they allow it to continue. Our findings reveal a pattern of state failures that have allowed criminality to flourish and raises questions about the government's motivations.'
Cambodia has denied the claims.
In the last five years scam centres have proliferated across southeast Asia, after Chinese-led criminal gangs converted casinos and hotels into online fraud factories during the pandemic.
This shadow economy has become extremely lucrative. According to 'conservative' estimates from the US Institute of Peace (USIP), at least $43.8 billion (£33.8bn) is being stolen each year by scammers based in Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos alone – a figure roughly equal to 40 per cent of their combined GDP.
But many of those running these online fraud, entrapment and blackmail schemes are themselves victims, lured with false promises of highly-paid work in deceptive job adverts on social media. In Cambodia alone, as many as 100,000 people have been trafficked into scam compounds, according to the United Nations.
The Amnesty report – which identified 53 scam centres and dozens more suspected sites, including in the capital Phnom Penh – is based on testimony from 58 people, including nine children, who were stuck in these centres.
Their experiences are in keeping with other reports detailing the 'climate of fear' in these fraud factories.
With high fences with razor wire, surveillance cameras and armed men standing guard, these compounds are designed to trap them inside, while complaining or failing to hit targets could result in beatings, electric shocks, and being shut in dark rooms. Survivors also told Amnesty that people were sold between the compounds, and that deaths were not uncommon.
The human-rights group said the Cambodian government is all too aware of these abuses. Not only have they been well-documented by media and activists, but the police have overseen raids that freed some trafficked workers – while leaving many more inside.
Amnesty found that just two scam compounds had been shut down. More than two-thirds of the sites identified were either not investigated by police, or had continued to operate even after police interventions.
'Unlike Myanmar, another hotspot for scamming compounds where territory is disputed across different armed factions… Cambodia has absolute sovereignty and control over its territory, and so it's allowing it to happen,' said Ms Ferrer.
She added that Amnesty's investigation revealed 'systemic instances of corruption and collusion'.
'There are cases where individuals talk about payment of bribes, but in the majority of cases it isn't that,' Ms Ferrer said.
'[They know] police are involved – either because an individual calls the police to try and get a rescue and they're tortured the next day… or because it is visible to them that compound managers and police are seemingly discussing the release of an individual or two. This is not exceptional… This is systemic. We are convinced the police are aware of what's happening.'
Amnesty said the Cambodian government did not respond when it shared the locations and coordinates of the scam centres it identified, while the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking shared only 'vague data' on known abuses and their response.
Government spokesman Pen Bona told AFP: 'Cambodia is a victimised country used by criminals to commit online scams. We do recognise that there is such thing, but Cambodia has taken serious measures against the problem.'
In contrast, many of those who escaped the scam compounds have been detained in immigration detention centres for months at a time, while authorities have targeted human rights defenders and journalists investigating abuses.