Francophone summit turns blind eye to Cambodia’s cybercrime
Next year’s Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie summit rewards nation known as globe’s cybercrime epicenter
A raid by Cambodian police on a Preah Sihanouk scam-centre March 10, 2024. Photo from Preah Sihanouk police Facebook page.
The French-speaking world in the shape of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) will be holding its summit in Cambodia in 2026.
The decision is unwise, I argue in the Asia Times. The plan comes amid a growing body of evidence that the country has become a hub for organised cyber-crime, with the government playing a facilitating role.
Past experience shows that the police raids we can expect on cyber-slavery compounds leading up to the summit will be for public consumption only. The compounds will simply reappear after the OIF goes home.