Source : Perth Now news
The Albanese government is being urged to use strong diplomatic and people-to-people links between Australia and Cambodia to pressure authorities there to close scam centres after a scathing report alleged recent crackdowns were hampered by “systematic failures”.
The Amnesty International report, released on Monday, alleged Cambodian authorities had delivered only “isolated gains” in cracking down on illicit scam centres, with operations left operating in many cases and victims of human trafficking left without support.
The report found Cambodian authorities had approved at least 16 news businesses which Amnesty International alleged were linked to known scamming compounds, which the human rights organisation said were often run by “a network of transnational, criminal groups”.
International and Crisis Lead Andrew Witheford said Australia should use its “substantial” diplomatic, economic, development assistance and law enforcement links with Cambodia to continue to pressure authorities to close scam centres and prosecute offenders.
“Clearly, enforcement by the Cambodian authorities has been inadequate,” Mr Witheford said.
“International scrutiny, co-ordination and assistance must be stepped up to improve this response.
“Australia should use its regional diplomatic heft through groupings such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote a more co-ordinated regional and international response to the issue.”
Mr Witheford said despite shortcomings in local policing, Australia should “step up” existing co-operation with authorities.
“The scale and extent of the problem necessitates greater international focus and co-ordination,” he said.
“Australia should also examine how it could assist and support the victims, by providing funding for rescue shelters and civil society organisations working on the issue in Cambodia, and encouraging the Cambodian government to deal with the survivors appropriately, as victims of human trafficking.”
Mr Witheford said Australia’s legal and enforcement regime to address modern slavery and human trafficking needed to also be strengthened, including enforcement noncompliance with due diligence obligations, and further action to address forced labour.
The report comes after a fake Australian Federal Police office was found in an abandoned sam compound in Cambodia earlier this year.
AFP Assistant Commissioner David McLean told a Senate estimates hearing in January the agency was not aware at that time that the fake AFP room was “instrumental in defrauding anyone”, but foreign partners were still investigating the site.
“We’re working with the Thais to process a range of material that they have been able to extract from the scene. We’ll see where that goes,” he said.
Mr McLean said the AFP had engaged with Thai police over the centre.
He noted a “very, very long history of co-operation” with Cambodian authorities, with whom the AFP had shared “what we know as a result of the action taken”.
In 2024, the AFP’s Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre – which involves finical regulators and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission – launched Operation Firestorm, which is focused on cyber criminals and human trafficking targets in South-East Asia and Eastern Europe.
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An AFP spokesperson earlier this year said AFP officers in Cambodia continued to work with local authorities including Cambodian National Police regarding scam centres targeting Australians.
Cambodia urged to do more
In March, the Cambodian government vowed to shut down all the country’s scam centres by the end of April.
At the time, the Cambodian government said they had targeted 250 locations believed to be carrying out the scam activity since July and had shut about 80 per cent, or 200, of them.
However, the report found that, in the midst of a state crackdown late last year, authorities had intervened at only 24 of 86 identified scamming compounds.
At seven, the agency reported “mass release or escapes” without police intervention at the time.
“This stands in stark contrast to the government’s claims that they have intervened at more than 250 scam centres,” the report stated.
“While it is likely that authorities have acted at more compounds than Amnesty International was able to verify, the government’s persistent lack of transparency, combined with documented failures during publicised interventions, significantly undermines its own claims of success.”
The report urged Cambodian to prioritise protection of victims of human trafficking who may have been made to work at the facilities, review its crackdown, and immediately act, while international partners were urged to continue to compel the Cambodian government to act.
