Amnesty International Criticizes Cambodia’s Casino License Renewals Amid Scam and Human Rights Concerns

(AsiaGameHub) –   Amnesty International, a global human rights advocacy organization, has criticized Cambodia’s decision to reissue licenses to multiple casinos that are believed to have connections to serious crime and scam hubs.

Documented Instances of Human Rights Abuse Point to Links Between Certain Casinos and Criminal Activity

This announcement comes several months after Cambodia Commercial Gambling Management Commission’s (CGMC) approved license renewals for a number of casinos. The venues include the Crown casinos in Bavet, Chrey Thum, and Poipet, as well as Majestic Two and Majestic Hotel & Casino in Sihanoukville.

In its official statement, Amnesty International alleges that multiple casinos in Cambodia may have ties to scam centers that have carried out grave human rights violations, including human trafficking, forced labor, child labor, and torture. For example, the owner of one Sihanoukville casino was recently hit with multiple criminal charges.

Survivors of the aforementioned scam centers tipped Amnesty International off to these abuses, and the organization was able to confirm the locations of several of these hubs. Investigations found that the relevant survivors were held captive at the Crown Resorts complex in Poipet and forced to participate in illegal operations.

Testimonies from other survivors also implicate additional casinos in involvement with similar illegal activities.

Amnesty Calls on the Government to Investigate This Issue

Amnesty International emphasized that these suspicious properties had their licenses renewed at a time when the country was supposedly conducting a crackdown on scam centers. The organization noted that the decision to renew these licenses could legitimize businesses connected to organized crime.

Amnesty International is now calling on authorities to explain why they chose to renew licenses for casinos with documented links to human trafficking, and stated that every day these casinos remain licensed is another day that visitors to these venues face the risk of enslavement.

Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s interim co-regional director for East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that the large amount of documentation linking many Cambodian casinos to human rights violations is alarming, and that it requires immediate investigation at every level of the corporate chain.

Ferrer added that Cambodia should immediately suspend the licenses of the implicated casinos and probe the venues in question.

A previous report from Amnesty International identified dozens of scamming compounds across the country, which prompted large-scale crackdowns. The organization hopes its latest report will produce a similar impact.