Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has promised to remove any officials who fail to act after ordering a strict crackdown on all forms of illegal gambling over the weekend.
The order, delivered on Saturday, comes amid a dramatic rise in reported cases of human trafficking and kidnappings linked to the rampant casino industry in the Southeast Asian country, with 56 Vietnamese workers fleeing a casino in Bavet on Saturday. A similar instance in which around 40 detained workers fled across the Cambodia-Vietnam border made headlines only weeks earlier.
According to The Khmer Times, the Prime Minister issued an order on Saturday in which he promised consequences for any officials who did not take action against “anarchic” illegal gambling nationwide.
“I would like to issue a very strict order, please take decisive and timely action,” he said.
“I do not hesitate with the removal of the capital-provincial governors, district governors, Khans, municipalities or any level of police officers who are found to be irresponsible.
“I would like to inform you that it is no longer possible to tolerate anarchic situations in the casino. We must be strict.”
He also ordered the closure of any small businesses, such as cafes and restaurants, that allow gambling on their premises.
Minister of Interior Sar Kheng will hold a meeting with working groups from the provinces today (Monday) to discuss a blueprint for operations, with Sok Phal, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior, having been assigned the task of overseeing the crackdown on illegal gambling in Cambodia.
VN Express reported Saturday that 56 Vietnamese workers had fled a casino in Bavet due to “work disagreements”. It also spoke with one of those workers, who said they had been tricked into working at the casino three months earlier and held in a room on the eighth floor where he was forced to work 12 hours a day and prevented from leaving.
In a separate incident, authorities in Sihanoukville detained around 400 foreign workers from a business called Boeng Chheng International Entertainment Co., Ltd, located in Sihanoukville, on Saturday for allegedly running illegal online gaming operations.
As reported by IAG, Cambodia stopped issuing online gaming licenses in August 2019 and refused to renew existing licenses when they expired on 1 January 2020 following a directive from Prime Minister Hun Sen to put an end to the industry.
