CAMBODIA: War on Online Scams: Cambodia Cannot Do It Alone

Posted by Asia Views | Sep 24, 2026 | 0 |

KhmerTimes-Sept 21, 2026

Online scams are a complex illicit economy connecting human trafficking, forced labor, money laundering, illicit financial flows, telecommunications networks, digital platforms and emerging technologies. Interpol describes financial fraud as one of the world’s most serious and rapidly evolving transnational crimes, increasingly intertwined with human trafficking and organized crime. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has likewise documented how people recruited through deceptive job advertisements can end up trafficked into scam operations and forced to defraud strangers thousands of miles away. It said in a report that the combined losses in 2025 from scams across East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand are estimated to be as much as $114 billion. The architecture of online scams is global. A scam conducted in one country may target a victim in another, use a phone number registered in a third country, communicate through a platform headquartered in a fourth, receive money through a bank in a fifth, and convert the proceeds into digital assets before moving them through wallets spread across jurisdictions. That is why international cooperation must become even more critical. That is why Cambodia will convene the International Conference on Combating Online Scams in Phnom Penh on September 23 and 24 under the theme “Acting Together towards Breaking the Chain and Eradication of Online Scams.” The conference will bring together delegates from more than 20 countries and 14 international organizations together with representatives from the private sector, academic institutions and civil society.The conference comes at a critical moment for Cambodia.

For years, Cambodia, like several countries in Southeast Asia, has faced international scrutiny over scam operations operating on its territory. The Cambodian government has responded by intensifying enforcement and centralizing its response through the Commission for Combating Online Scams, or CCOS, chaired by Prime Minister Hun Manet. Read more at:

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/502027179/war-on-online-scams-cambodia-cannot-do-it-alone/

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

CAMBODIA: War on Online Scams: Cambodia Cannot Do It Alone

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