JAKARTA (Jakarta Post/ANN): Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry has recorded a surge in Indonesian nationals seeking repatriation from Cambodia, following Phnom Penh’s sweeping crackdown on transnational cyber scam syndicates behind pig-butchering schemes and investment fraud.
A total of 11,986 Indonesians have filed requests for repatriation between January and June. The figure has more than doubled compared with the 5,088 repatriation requests recorded throughout 2025.
“Some of the Indonesian citizens [awaiting repatriation] are currently staying at shelters, both at the Indonesian Embassy’s shelter and other shelters in Cambodia,” Heni Hamidah, the foreign ministry’s director for citizen protection, told a press briefing on Wednesday.
“They are all in process of being repatriated, particularly while waiting for the issuance of emergency travel documents,” she said. Shifts within the multi-billion-dollar global cyber scam industry have continued to unfold after Cambodia, long regarded as a major hub for scam operations, launched a massive crackdown amid mounting international pressure late last year. Cambodia has raided more than 250 scam compounds and 91 casinos linked to cybercrime so far.
The crackdown resulted in the arrest of thousands of suspected organizers of scam operations, and the deportation of nearly 50,000 foreign nationals, Cambodian authorities have said.
According to news reports, the scale of Cambodia’s mass expulsions have strained the country’s immigration system, with thousands described as stranded in overcrowded detention centers, shared apartments or on the streets.
Heni meanwhile said the number of Indonesian nationals held in Cambodian immigration detention centers reached 1,840 people as of June, with 792 being held in Pochentong, 948 in Bati and the remaining 100 in Phnom Penh.
“During this waiting period, we have also been negotiating with the Cambodian authorities so they will not have to pay immigration overstay fines,” Heni said. “As for the repatriation itself, we are encouraging Indonesian citizens to return home at their own expense.”
Evolving beyond Cambodia
Southeast Asia has in recent years grappled with the rapid growth of cyber scam syndicates, an industry that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic when economic hardship and soaring unemployment were exploited by criminal networks to recruit workers under the guise of legitimate job opportunities.
Initially viewed largely through the lens of human trafficking, the industry has since evolved into a complex criminal enterprise. Some trafficked workers, lured by the prospect of high earnings or coerced into remaining there, have risen through the ranks to become recruiters and managers, perpetuating the cycle by targeting new victims.
The Foreign Ministry has previously pointed to an emerging pattern of repeat migration, in which some Indonesian citizens repatriated after reporting abuse or trafficking later returned voluntarily to work in scam compounds.
Now, as many scam centers in Cambodia have been shut down, similar voluntary migration patterns have started to emerge elsewhere, from neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Timor-Leste, to destinations as far afield as Africa.
Amid the increasingly blurred line between victims and perpetrators, the Immigration and Corrections Ministry said it has adopted a more “dynamic” risk management approach through its Subject of Interest (SOI) system.
SOI is an early warning mechanism that alerts immigration officers to potentially high-risk individuals seeking passport issuance or traveling to countries considered vulnerable to cyber scam operations.
So far, 1,584 Indonesians have been placed on the SOI list, immigration director-general Hendarsam Marantoko said, stressing that inclusion in the database does not automatically ban a person from traveling abroad, but rather allows immigration officers to delay their departure for further investigation.
“A travel ban is a legally binding measure that must be based on statutory authority, including a request from a law enforcement agency in connection with a criminal case,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. “To strike a balance between the state’s duty to protect its citizens and their right to travel, we have moved away from the rigid approach of an interception list and to the SOI mechanism,” he said.
A February report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that an estimated 300,000 people are currently working in scam operations across Southeast Asia, with estimated annual revenues reaching around US$64 billion globally. -- JAKARTA POST / ASIAN NEWS NETWORK
