Hundreds of thousands of foreigners have voluntarily left Cambodia in the past 15 months amid a nationwide crackdown on online scam operations, the government said, while more than 13,000 others were deported following raids.
The government announced the latest figures which coincided with the U.S Treasury Department’s sanctioning of Cambodian Senator Kok An. He has been accused along with 28 associates and entities of running scam compounds that allegedly stole millions of dollars from Americans.
Authorities deported 13,039 people from 33 countries, including 1,509 women, between early 2025 and mid-April this year for alleged involvement in scam operations, according to a government statement released Friday.
Since January, 241,888 foreign nationals – including citizens of China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan – have voluntarily left Cambodia, the statement said.
Prime Minister Hun Manet issued strict orders to relevant departments to destroy technological fraud networks, calling authorities to “root out” the crime “without tolerance and exception”. He compelled them to remove its operational capacity, cut off financial sources and close all channels.
In the last nine months, authorities nationwide cracked over 250 cases of technology-based online scam, including 91 casino locations, and filed 112 cases in court. Some 1,089 suspects from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, as well as Cambodia, faced legal action.
Back in 2023, a report by the U.N. human rights office estimated that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and 100,000 in Cambodia have been forced to work in online scam operations.
Moeun Tola, executive director of CENTRAL, said there is no denying that the government has carried out numerous raids on online scams. However, full elimination of the crime and identifying their masterminds requires strong political will and commitment. He observed that those who have been arrested or deported so far appear to be “mostly low-level workers”, while the key figures remain at large.
“If you ask whether it’s over, I would say it is not,” he said. “Only some individuals have been arrested, while those named in sanctions do not appear in the government’s arrest reports.”
Tola expressed concern that Cambodians may be vulnerable in terms of recruitment into online scam operations, as hiring continues via social media platforms. He said dismantling the entrenched networks would only be possible if authorities target and prosecute those orchestrating the schemes.
“Without holding the masterminds accountable, these online scam networks cannot be destroyed,” he said.
