Cambodia's Anti-Scam Drive Faces Scrutiny Over Victim Protection Gaps

Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI). While Cambodian authorities have publicized mass deportations and high-profile raids on online scam compounds, the government has not disclosed how many people removed from the operations have been identified as victims of human trafficking more than a year into its anti-scam campaign. The lack of official figures has reinforced concerns among rights groups that trafficking survivors are being treated as willing participants in criminal enterprises, potentially leaving thousands of foreigners who escaped scam compounds stranded in Cambodia without protection or support. The gap persists despite previous U.N. estimates that more than 350,000 people have been forced or coerced into working in scam centers across Southeast Asia, including at least 100,000 in Cambodia. Since July 2025, authorities have launched hundreds of raids after Prime Minister Hun Manet ordered a sweeping crackdown under mounting international pressure to dismantle an industry that U.S. estimates say generates $12.5 billion to $19 billion annually. More than 16,000 people from 33 countries have been deported in the first six months of this year after being rounded up during scam raids, the government said. Authorities also said more than 240,000 foreigners believed to be connected to fraud operations left Cambodia voluntarily during the same period. CamboJA News sought information from several government ministries and agencies about how the long-documented trafficking of scam workers has affected the crackdown. National Police Deputy Commissioner General Chuon Sovann and General Department of Immigration spokesperson Sok Somnea did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Touch Sokhak, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, referred questions to the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT). NCCT Vice President Chou Bun Eng said investigations into online scam compounds do not fall under its mandate and referred questions to the National Police. The committee has long faced scrutiny for failing to properly screen people found in compounds as trafficking victims, instead classifying cases as ordinary “labor disputes” or immigration problems. The scrutiny reached its peak last year when the U.S. State Department labeled Cambodia a “state sponsor” of human trafficking. Chou Bun Eng has previously downplayed the criticism and called for shared responsibility with victims’ home counties. But as the crackdown continues, support for an unknown number of foreign nationals who say they were forced to work in scam compounds under threats of torture or death has been limited. Opio Kenneth, a 28-year-old Ugandan, said he has been stranded in Phnom Penh since January after escaping a scam compound known as “Dong Ying” near the Vietnam border in Kampot province. The area has been identified in previous reports as a hub for online fraud where workers have described forced labor and abuse. Kenneth’s passport was confiscated by the compound’s supervisor and he said he had been forced to target people around the world with fraudulent cryptocurrency investment schemes, with a quota of contacting 10 potential victims a day. “The first time I didn’t meet the target, I was beaten. And the second time, they used an electric shock device on my hands,” he said. Kenneth said he escaped after security guards and alleged scam bosses abandoned the compound before police later raided it. Since escaping, he has slept on the streets of Phnom Penh while waiting for assistance from a local NGO that has sheltered others who fled scam compounds this year. He said he sleeps in a different place each night to avoid police attention and relies on donations from pagodas for food. Kenneth’s case is one of dozens reported by rights groups over the past year. Foreigners left stranded without passports or other legal documents are often held in immigration detention until they can be repatriated, although authorities have frequently waived visa overstay penalties. Amnesty International said in a June report that none of the 73 survivors of Cambodian scam compounds it interviewed had been formally recognized as trafficking victims, despite concluding they all met the internationally accepted definition. The rights group also documented cases in which survivors were allegedly extorted or threatened by police, or received inadequate assistance from their embassies. Responding to Amnesty’s report, authorities said they have adequate systems to identify trafficking victims and perpetrators and maintained the anti-scam campaign had been effective. Amnesty also said it identified state intervention at only 24 of the 86 scam compounds it documented over the past year. The government said it has shut down over 250 compounds and 91scam-linked casinos since July 2025. The group’s co-regional director Montse Ferrer warned that stranded survivors risk being trafficked again. She said Amnesty documented cases of people who escaped scam compounds amid the crackdown remained in Phnom Penh and were later trafficked into compounds in Sihanoukville. “When you look at what the Cambodian government reports on with respect to many of these individuals, they’re not referred to as victims,” she said. With more deportations expected as the crackdown continues, many foreigners stranded in Cambodia remain in legal limbo without formal recognition as trafficking victims. Indonesia said in June that more than 12,000 of its citizens who had worked in online scam operations had sought assistance since January. But only about 5,500 had returned home, its embassy in Phnom Penh said. China has repatriated the largest number of its citizens, though official figures or screenings are unclear. The South Korean and Malaysian Embassies in Phnom Penh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. While many countries screen returning former scam workers for signs of trafficking, those who remain stranded in Cambodia fear they will instead be treated as criminals. “I want people to know that we are not criminals,” Kenneth said. “We were deceived. We were enslaved.”