Myanmar Greenlights Death Penalty for Cyber Scam Convicts

Myanmar parliament on Tuesday gave its nod to a law that would award death penalty to those who force victims into working in online scam centres, France 24 reported. The ‘Anti-Online Scam Bill’ was passed after the MPs gave assent to the tweaks in the draft bill at a combined meeting of the upper and lower houses Union Parliament Speaker Aung Lin Dwe said, as per the report.

The bill seeks to punish the offender to 10 years to life in prison, and capital punishment. The anti-scam law is the first legislation passed by Myanmar’s new government.

What does the new law say?

AFP confirmed from Lower house MP Aye Chan that the death sentence was retained in the final draft of the law.

"There were not many significant changes to the proposed draft bill after discussions between the lower house and upper house. The important parts of the bill remained the same," Aye Chan said.

According to France 24, the draft legislation published in May said the law included sentences of 10 years to life in prison, and capital punishment, for "violence, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, or cruel treatment against another person for the purpose of forcing them to commit online scams".

According to France 24, the draft legislation published in May said the law included sentences of 10 years to life in prison, and capital punishment, for "violence, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, or cruel treatment against another person for the purpose of forcing them to commit online scams".

If committing such an offence caused death, "the death penalty shall be imposed", it said, as per France 24. The draft bill further said that the life in prison provision would be applied to those who "run an online scam centre" and "commit digital currency scams (crypto scams)".

Why is Myanmar targeting scam centres?

Internet fraud has mushroomed in war-torn Myanmar which has victimised thousands around the world. The country is a part of Southeast Asia’s thriving scam economy. They target web users by honeytraps or cryptocurrency cons. Acoording to France 24, these markets have employees who willingly work there, but repatriated foreigners have also reported being trafficked to sites in Myanmar and tortured by scam centre operators.

Regional crackdown on cyber scam networks

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), this is a regional problem which no one country can solve. This is organised crime. It says, “Law enforcement agencies across Southeast Asia need to collaborate and coordinate, and this is why UNODC is important. It can bring countries together and provide expertise, for example, in digital forensic investigations.”

Transnational organised crime syndicates based in Southeast Asia are fuelling the trafficking of people for both forced criminality and sexual exploitation in “scam farms” that have spread across the region, according to the United Nations.

There are estimated to be some 400 of these criminal enterprises in the Philippines alone, which boomed during the Covid pandemic. They are almost always operated clandestinely and illegally alongside legal and licensed online gaming operations.

The Philippines Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has raided and shut down dozens of the operations in recent years and is collaborating with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to look at ways of working with other countries to disrupt and dismantle the scam farms in Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.