Responding to media inquiries regarding the Al Jazeera report on the Long Bay case in Koh Kong province and whether it could affect Cambodia's image and efforts, Senior Minister in Charge of Special Missions, Permanent Vice-Chairman and Head of the Secretariat of the Commission for Combating Online Scams (CCOS) H.E. Chhay Sinarith made clear that Cambodia has never denied the existence of online scam crimes, but what matters is that Cambodia is a state that actively takes concrete action to combat online scams and never lets up, with the Royal Government of Cambodia having implemented and continuing to implement legal measures with the highest sense of responsibility to eradicate this crime.
The Senior Minister further stressed that the results achieved by the Royal Government over more than the past year have been a key factor driving ministries, institutions and authorities in the capital and provinces across the country to step up enforcement with greater rigor in efforts to clean up Online Scams and continue to commit to preventing them from ever returning.
The Senior Minister emphasized that, in this regard, the Royal Government of Cambodia has taken strict and highly responsible measures to completely clean up and dismantle the locations and operational centers of Online Scam criminal groups. In addition, the competent authorities have been and continue to actively investigate in order to track down and arrest the ringleaders and all involved suspects to bring them to justice with no exception whatsoever.
Regarding the Al Jazeera video itself, H.E. Chhay Sinarith stated that the activities shown in that report occurred before the large-scale cleanup campaign by the Cambodian authorities. Therefore, on the contrary, this report clearly demonstrates and reflects that Cambodia has now achieved genuine success in cracking down on and cleaning out online scam criminal groups from those locations.
Going forward, the Senior Minister stressed that Cambodia will continue to deepen and strengthen cooperation with countries and international organizations in order to prevent and stop these cross-border technology crimes from taking root or reappearing on the soil of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
