Cambodia: Scamming crisis survivors must be protected amid police crackdown

Caged windows behind high walls of a scamming compound with three rungs of barbed or razor wire

Responding to reports and Cambodian government announcements that a crackdown on scamming compounds in the country is under way, Amnesty International’s Regional Research Director Montse Ferrer said:

“A coordinated government response to Cambodia’s scamming crisis is long overdue. However, it is vital that authorities respect the human rights of individuals found in these locations, where we have documented slavery, torture and other abuses carried out by criminal gangs.

“Emerging reports and social media footage raise concerns that police may not be using a human rights-based approach to who is being detained and who is being treated as a victim of human trafficking. Victims must be properly identified and protected, and the government should share details about the detention centres where they may now be held.

“Finally, police should not only focus on the individuals carrying out scams, but on those controlling them. Any legitimate crackdown must include the investigation and questioning of compound landlords and managers, as well as the security guards and companies who have assisted them.”

Background

According to research published last month by Amnesty International, the Cambodian government has been deliberately ignoring a litany of human rights abuses including slavery, human trafficking, child labour and torture being carried out by criminal gangs on a vast scale in more than 50 scamming compounds located across the country.

Amnesty’s findings suggested there had been coordination and possibly collusion between Chinese compound bosses and the Cambodian police, who have failed to shut down compounds despite the slew of human rights abuses taking place inside.

Since the publication of the report, the Cambodian authorities appear to have undertaken a crackdown on scamming compounds. On Wednesday 16 July authorities said they had arrested more than 1,000 people in raids on compounds in at least five provinces. Reports of more raids have continued, with dramatic social media footage showing scenes of people running from compounds in the middle of the night with suitcases.