(Phnom Penh): On the afternoon of 21 January 2026, Chhay Sinarith, Senior Minister in charge of Special Missions and Head of the Secretariat of the National Committee for Combating Online Scams, met with Rebecca Miller, Regional Coordinator on Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling for Southeast Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for a courtesy call and working discussion.

During the meeting, Sinarith highly appreciated the cooperation between UNODC and Cambodia. He underscored that UNODC’s cooperation covers a wide range of key areas, including support for efforts to combat online scams.

He further noted that online scams are closely linked to human trafficking, forced labour, torture, murder, drug-related crimes, and other serious offenses, which severely affect human rights, freedoms, and the dignity of humanity as a whole.

At the same time, he emphasized that the Royal Government of Cambodia has continued to bounce strong devotion to these issues by implementing clear and strict measures to prevent, suppress, and crack down on all forms of illegal activities.

These efforts aim to combat all types of transnational crime, including the eradication online scams, which requires all relevant groups to cooperate, exchange information, share experiences, and conduct joint investigations to identify ringleaders and organized criminal networks and hold them accountable before the law.

In response, Rebecca Miller expressed appreciation for the opportunity to pay a courtesy call and engage in discussions. She praised the Royal Government of Cambodia and Cambodian law-enforcement authorities for their commitment and determined efforts in combating online scams.

She also highly commended the government’s measures to clean up and suppress technology-based fraud, reaffirming that UNODC fully supports cooperation with the Royal Government of Cambodia in this fight. She stressed that no country can effectively address this problem without strong international cooperation.

Before concluding, both sides discussed next steps, including training programs, capacity building, enhanced public awareness, and strengthened cooperation in combating online scams.
=FRESH NEWS