PHNOM PENH — Thousands of foreign workers have become stranded on the streets of Phnom Penh following government crackdowns on online scam operations. Police raids have cleared illicit online scam operations from high-rise towers in the city.

NGOs, including Amnesty International, state that many of these stranded workers are victims of human trafficking. "Rather than identifying and supporting trafficking victims, Cambodian authorities have consistently treated people fleeing or being released from scamming compounds as irregular migrants," Amnesty International said. The Cambodian government requires stranded migrants to pay fines of $10 a day for overstaying their visas, and authorities have detained migrants for visa violations in overcrowded facilities in recent weeks.

Foreign pressure prompted the Cambodian government to mount a large-scale crackdown on scam operations in late 2025. Migrants from Indonesia, Uganda, Ghana, and Sierra Leone reported being held against their will and forced to meet strict quotas as scam workers. Wilson said he was electrocuted for not meeting his quotas. "They have a place called the black room," Wilson said. "Inside that black room, they can do anything to you."

Mark Taylor, a consultant on human trafficking issues, stated that the government has only addressed part of the problem. "The government has only addressed half of this problem," Taylor said. He added, "But it is totally ignoring what fueled that problem."

Organizations such as United Nations agencies and Amnesty International have documented the use of forced labor and torture within the scam industry. A group of Ugandan men and women boarded a flight back home after their release from scam compounds. Beijing has extradited several alleged Chinese scam kingpins from Cambodia.