Thousands of people, including suspected victims of human trafficking, have reportedly been released or have escaped from online scam compounds across Cambodia in recent days, a development that appears closely tied to mounting international pressure on the country’s multibillion-dollar cyber-fraud industry.
Indonesia’s embassy in Phnom Penh said it had received reports from 1,440 Indonesian nationals who had been freed from scam centres, while footage circulating online showed long queues of Chinese nationals gathering outside the Chinese embassy. Amnesty International said it had verified at least 15 videos and images, alongside social media posts, indicating escape attempts and releases at a minimum of 10 scam compounds nationwide.
Exact figures remain unclear, but Amnesty estimates the number released to be in the thousands. The organisation’s regional research director, Montse Ferrer, said the role of Cambodian authorities varies across incidents. “In some videos police are visible; in others, they are not,” she said, raising questions over whether the releases are coordinated enforcement actions or ad-hoc responses.
Ferrer warned that many of those freed are receiving little to no post-release support. Some have been seen “walking around in search of assistance,” while others have made their way to safe houses. Without structured protection, she cautioned, survivors risk being recycled back into the same trafficking networks, a pattern seen in previous crackdowns.
Online scam operations have expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia, with Cambodia emerging as a major hub. The UN estimates around 100,000 people work inside scam compounds in the country. Many are lured by false job offers, only to be detained and coerced into carrying out romance scams, investment fraud, and crypto-related schemes.
Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center, described the scale of the recent releases as unprecedented. He said the catalyst was clear: escalating international pressure following coordinated UK and US sanctions imposed on October 14 against Chen Zhi, a Chinese-born Cambodian tycoon accused of orchestrating a transnational scam empire.
Chen, the chairman of Prince Group, was arrested earlier this month and extradited to China, the most forceful action yet taken against figures allegedly at the centre of Cambodia’s scam economy. The Cambodian government did not respond to requests for comment on the recent releases.
Prime Minister Hun Manet has publicly pledged to “eliminate all problems related to cyber scam crimes,” but analysts remain sceptical. Sims warned that without sustained external pressure, the industry is likely to reconstitute itself. “This sector has become too big to fail,” he said, describing it as a key source of regime-linked patronage.
Cambodia has repeatedly denied allegations of official complicity. However, the US Trafficking in Persons Report for 2024 warned that senior officials and advisers have owned or benefited from properties used by scam operators, resulting in selective enforcement and systemic impunity. Estimates from the United States Institute of Peace suggest cyber-scamming generates more than $12.5 billion annually in Cambodia, roughly half of the country’s formal GDP.
For now, the releases mark a rare rupture in a deeply entrenched system. Whether it signals meaningful reform or a temporary concession under pressure remains an open question.