Burma's parliament approved a new anti‑online‑scam law that allows the death penalty for individuals involved in scams that result in violence, torture, unlawful detention, or cruel treatment. The measure follows a recent crackdown that targeted the country's largest scam network.
The crackdown seized 127,000 bitcoins, worth more than $8 billion, and dismantled a network known as the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army. The operation also freed thousands of people from locked compounds.
Scammers have recruited migrants from across Asia, promising legitimate work before imprisoning them and forcing them to conduct online fraud. Targeted victims in the United States have been defrauded for millions of dollars.
The new law imposes a mandatory death penalty only for offenses that result in a death, while any case of forced labor linked to cybercrime carries a minimum ten‑year prison term.
The law was enacted two days before the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which this year focuses on the theme "Trapped Behind the Scam."
The crackdown and the new legislation underscore the need for international cooperation to protect victims and dismantle transnational scam networks.
