Hun Manet: Cambodia's Fight Against Online Scams Is No Publicity Stunt

Prime Minister Hun Manet has insisted that Cambodia's campaign against online scams is genuine and not merely for show, while warning that transnational crime must never serve as an excuse for violating another country's territory.

On September 23, Hun Manet officially opened the International Conference on Combating Online Scams (ICCOS) in Phnom Penh. The gathering drew roughly 500 delegates representing 27 nations and seven international bodies, including UN agencies and NGOs.

"Cambodia will never be a safe haven for online scams. This transnational crime is a recent post-Covid-19 phenomenon, one that is entirely foreign to our national cultural values and identity. Cambodia will not allow criminal syndicates to undermine our country's progress and the livelihood of over 17 million Cambodian people," he said.

The premier pointed out that the online scam industry neither originated in Cambodia nor is limited to it. He said the Kingdom's initial encounter with the problem came through the expansion of online gambling and casino operations, as criminal networks quickly moved and adapted across borders.

"Cambodia takes full ownership for securing our borders, enforcing our laws and restoring the integrity of our national jurisdictions. Accountability must be proven through uncompromising internal actions," he said.

"We treat law enforcement as a standing national security obligation and not a public relations campaign. We are focusing our efforts on permanently eradicating criminal networks and preventing their re-emergence," he added.

He highlighted that Cambodia had enacted anti-scam laws and cooperated with law enforcement authorities from China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia, along with fellow ASEAN members, other partner nations, and international organisations such as UNODC, Interpol and IOM.

A Warning Against Weaponising the Issue

In an apparent allusion to Thailand — which last year cited the fight against online scams as justification for occupying Cambodian land — Hun Manet argued that efforts against transnational crime must not be turned into a weapon.

"Online scam issues should never be weaponised by any nation against another, nor should anti-scam objectives be used as a pretext by any nation to use force to attack or occupy another nation's sovereign territory, which is a clear violation of the principles of international law. This phenomenon, unfortunately, has happened to Cambodia in certain areas along the border with Thailand," he said.

"On the contrary, anti-online scam efforts should be a reason for nations to work together with sincerity and mutual respect in order to tackle the issue for common benefit. No single country can effectively tackle cross-border challenges alone," he added.

Five Proposals for Global Cooperation

To strengthen the international response to online scams, Hun Manet outlined five priorities: sharing intelligence in real time, conducting advanced financial investigations, aligning legal and operational frameworks more closely, building public-private partnerships, and protecting victims.

"Our shared determination to confront this complex challenge must be matched with concrete and collective actions. In this spirit of mutual trust and shared responsibility, Cambodia looks forward to its international partners adopting the Phnom Penh Declaration on September 24 — a testament to our collective resolve to break the chain and eradicate online scams once and for all," he said.