In recent weeks, Cambodia’s state-aligned media has been flooded with articles attempting to recast the narrative around one of the ruling elite’s core economic interests: human trafficking-fueled scamming. According to the evidence, Cambodia’s scamming industry begins and ends with a ruling elite that has welcomed and facilitated the mass immigration of sophisticated organized criminals, mostly from China, over the last 15-20 years. Many of these have since become naturalized Cambodian citizens, gaining legal cover and providing a key source of income to the regime.
The Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA) has requested to correct the video “Debt Crisis in Cambodia”, which was published via popular YouTube channel “The Kanitha Show” on October 26, 2023.
The number of poor people in Cambodia has halved since 2014, from 5.6 million to 2.8 million in 2022, according to a UN report. But while access to electricity, sanitation and nutrition increased, school attendance did not see the same degree of improvement. The population of urban poor families with a child not attending school increased from 4% to 7%, possibly due to school closures during the pandemic.
