After China opened its economy last year, ending its zero Covid policy, an old problem has roared back with a vengeance. Chinese authorities are grappling with the issue of their citizens operating fraudulent schemes from Southeast Asian countries, targeting mainland Chinese residents.
China has a history of collaborating with organised crime syndicates in places like Australia, Canada, and Taiwan, employing criminal groups to achieve political objectives. However, the increasing prevalence of telecom fraud and human trafficking in Myanmar and the Golden Triangle area is now adversely affecting Chinese citizens.
What has been described as ‘scamdemic’ encompasses a series of illicit activities, including human trafficking and online scams. The epicentre of these activities lies in Cambodia and the Golden Triangle area, which overlaps Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos and is notorious for illicit opium production and other criminal activities.
Global threat of human trafficking
Cambodia, particularly Sihanoukville, has long been known as a hub for Chinese nationals engaging in illicit activities, including gambling. However, these scams originating in Cambodia have now reached industrial scale, deterring Chinese tourists from visiting this once-preferred destination.
In June, Interpol issued a warning about online scam centres operating from Cambodia, with networks extending into Laos and Myanmar.
Interpol noted that initially, victims of human trafficking primarily came from Chinese-speaking regions such as China, Malaysia, Thailand, or Singapore. However, victims are now drawn from as far away as Europe and South America, with even Indian nationals falling prey to job scams in Southeast Asian countries.
“What began as a regional crime threat has become a global human trafficking crisis,” said Jürgen Stock, Secretary-General of Interpol.
Interpol is not the only organisation sounding the alarm. In August, the United Nations reported that over 1,00,000 people were trafficked into Cambodia, and 1,20,000 into Myanmar.
In recent months, the Chinese Public Security Bureau has conducted a large-scale crackdown on the scam centres, which appear to have tacit support from the governments in Cambodia and Myanmar.
The Ministry of Public Security has said that it has “intensified the fight against telecom and online fraud” in the “Northern Myanmar and the Golden Triangle, an area that comprises parts of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, are two major hiding places of the fraudsters”.
“Since the beginning of this year, the ministry has dispatched teams to countries including the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos for cooperation on international law enforcement, with severe crackdowns on telecom fraud and human trafficking,” said an article in China Daily. The report was subsequently published on the website of China’s Supreme People’s Court.