At the 45th closed-door meeting of the Central Committee of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Prime Minister Hun Manet announced this important decision.
According to sources, Hun Manet stated at the meeting that the agency will specifically address issues related to human trafficking, online fraud, and internet gambling. Moreover, the establishment of this agency is crucial for restoring Cambodia's reputation.
The State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and the Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT), Zhou Wenyin, confirmed this news. Another reliable source mentioned that Hun Manet might personally lead the agency.
In an interview, Zhou Wenyin expressed satisfaction with this new government initiative and pointed out that it demonstrates the Cambodian government and Prime Minister Hun Manet's high regard for the issues of online fraud and internet gambling.
In recent years, Cambodia has frequently drawn international attention due to human trafficking crimes. A 2021 investigative report by the Khmer Times revealed a case involving a Chinese criminal gang suspected of illegally detaining workers, followed by more similar cases being exposed, making Cambodia a hotspot for such illegal activities.
The core issue of online fraud cases involves forced labor through high-paying recruitment scams, mainly orchestrated by foreign gangs that lure citizens from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and even the United States. The criminal gangs promise high-paying jobs but force the victims to engage in internet gambling, fraud, and other criminal activities, and even subject them to abuse and torture.
The increase in such cases led to Cambodia being downgraded from "Tier 2" to "Tier 3," the lowest level, in the U.S. State Department's 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report, indicating insufficient efforts in combating human trafficking. In the 2023 and 2024 reports, Cambodia remained at Tier 3 and was criticized for not meeting the minimum standards and lacking progress in taking effective action against criminal networks.
The 2023 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that up to 100,000 people in Cambodia might be forced into online fraud. These workers face severe human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, and forced labor.
However, the Cambodian government has denied these allegations and emphasized that the United Nations underestimated the efforts of the Cambodian government in combating online fraud and human trafficking.
