Cambodia will not tolerate telecommunications fraud or allow criminal groups to use the country as a safe haven, Senate President Hun Sen declared this week, as authorities intensify a nationwide crackdown on cross‑border scam networks.

Speaking in Phnom Penh during a meeting with South Korea’s newly appointed ambassador, Kim Changyong, Hun Sen said recent enforcement actions were designed to send a clear message to criminal groups. “Cambodia is not a refuge for criminals, but their hell,” he was quoted as saying by The Cambodia China Times.

His remarks underline the government’s uncompromising stance against transnational crime, particularly online fraud operations that have proliferated in Cambodia in recent years. Hun Sen stressed that no criminal organisation would be permitted to use Cambodian territory as a base for illegal activities.

The issue has drawn particular concern in South Korea, where citizens have been lured into scam compounds in Cambodia under false job offers, only to be forced into running online fraud schemes. These scams, often involving romance and investment cons known as “pig‑butchering,” have swindled victims out of billions.

South Korea has responded with travel advisories, repatriations, and closer law enforcement cooperation. Dozens of South Korean nationals suspected of involvement in fraud have been returned home for investigation, while both countries have stepped up joint efforts to dismantle the networks.

Hun Sen, who served as Cambodia’s prime minister for nearly four decades and remains the nation’s most influential political figure, emphasised that the crackdown is intended to protect regional security and international confidence.

The meeting with Ambassador Kim highlighted growing cooperation between Phnom Penh and Seoul in tackling telecom fraud and other forms of cross‑border crime. For Cambodia, the campaign is as much about safeguarding its reputation as it is about dismantling criminal syndicates entrenched within its borders.

-2026-01-30

Wonder where he will get his cash from now. However I don't believe it for a minute.

20 minutes ago, LittleBear57 said:

Wonder where he will get his cash from now. However I don't believe it for a minute.

For reference - Khmer Times 2/2/2026 -

More details have emerged of Saturday’s major raid on a scam centre in a casino in Bavet City, in which police arrested 2,223 foreigners...........an operation to crack down on suspected online scams............authorities arrested......... foreign suspects, including 1,792 Chinese, 177 Vietnamese, 179 Myanmarese, 30 Nepalese, 5 Taiwanese, 1 Malaysian, 2 Laotians, 36 Indians, and 1 Mexican.