Myanmar Proposes Death Sentence for Cyberscam Offences
The multibillion-dollar black market attracts many willing employees, but repatriated foreigners have also reported being trafficked to sites in Myanmar and tortured by scam centre operators
YANGON: Myanmar published a parliamentary bill on Thursday proposing the death sentence for those who detain or violently coerce victims into working in online scam centres.
Internet fraud factories have flourished in war-torn Myanmar, part of Southeast Asia's thriving scam economy, targeting web users worldwide with romance and cryptocurrency investment cons.
The multibillion-dollar black market attracts many willing employees, but repatriated foreigners have also reported being trafficked to sites in Myanmar and tortured by scam centre operators.
The draft legislation would allow 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".
The "Anti-Online Scam Bill" also includes a maximum sentence of life in prison for those who "run an online scam centre" and those who "commit digital currency scams (crypto scams)".
Myanmar's military-backed parliament -- which many analysts describe as a rubber-stamp legislature -- is next scheduled to sit in the first week of June.
Scam hotspot
The civil war triggered by a 2021 military coup has seeded instability across Myanmar, which monitors say has created fertile ground for organised crime groups to set up shop in fortified compounds.
Victims in the United States alone were scammed out of more than $20 billion through such schemes last year, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
It has also ramped up tensions with neighbouring China, which has become irked at the number of its citizens founding scam centres, working in them and falling victim to them, according to analysts.
Over the course of Myanmar's five-year civil war, China has intermittently thrown its weight behind both rebels and the military to suit its security and economic interests, monitors say.
It has favoured the military recently, backing a junta-run election that shut out opposition parties including the National League for Democracy of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the coup.
The "Anti-Online Scam Bill" is the first legislation presented by the new government that is headed by coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, who assumed the role of civilian president last month.
Democracy watchdogs dismiss the government transition as a bid to rebrand military rule and put an end to the pariah status Myanmar's leadership has endured since the coup.
The new government has touted concessions, including announcing Suu Kyi's move from prison to house arrest two weeks ago, although critics dismiss such measures as an attempt to launder its image.
The anti-scam bill promises a new committee to cooperate with other countries to combat the illicit industry, another apparent invitation for foreign engagement with the new government.