Human rights group Amnesty International yesterday accused Cambodia’s government of “deliberately ignoring” abuses by cybercrime gangs that have trafficked people from across the world, including children, into slavery at brutal scam compounds.
The London-based group said in a report that it had identified 53 scam centers and dozens more suspected sites across the country, including in the Southeast Asian nation’s capital, Phnom Penh.
The prison-like compounds were ringed by high fences with razor wire, guarded by armed men and staffed by trafficking victims forced to defraud people across the globe, with those inside subjected to punishments including shocks from electric batons, confinement in dark rooms and beatings, Amnesty International said.
Photo: Reuters
The group said its findings revealed a “pattern of state failures” that allowed the billion-dollar industry to flourish, including failures to investigate human rights abuses, identify and assist people who have been targeted, and regulate security companies and tools of torture.
Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona said the country rejected allegations of inaction, pointing to a task force led by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet formed in January and saying the report was “exaggerated.”
Cambodia was one of the victims of the scam industry and wanted cooperation rather than blame, Bona said.
While Cambodia has overseen raids that have freed some trafficked workers, Amnesty said it found more than two-thirds of scam compounds were either not investigated by police or had continued to operate even after police interventions.
Two compounds did appear to have been shut down, the group said.
During rescue efforts, police did not enter compounds, but met representatives who handed over only the person who had called for help, the group said, while some survivors were beaten by their bosses after trying to contact the police.
The government spokesman did not respond to those claims.
“Deceived, trafficked and enslaved, the 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,” Amnesty International secretary-general Agnes Callamard said.
Cambodia emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic as a hub for the global scam industry as mostly Chinese-led criminal groups repurposed unused casinos and hotels as scam centers housing as many as 100,000 people, according to the UN.
Similar enclaves have flourished in Myanmar and Laos.
The industry in Cambodia generates more than US$12.5 billion annually — half of the country’s GDP, according to the US Institute for Peace.
The criminal gangs entice people with fake job offers posted on social media and then force them to financially exploit people online including through fake romances or “pig-butchering” schemes in which the scammer builds trust with a target before stealing their money, Amnesty said.
Nine out of 58 people caught up in the scams and interviewed by Amnesty were children, the group said, including a 16-year-old from China who was kicked and barred from leaving.
Amnesty said it had confirmed the death of a Chinese child in one compound.
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