NAYPYIDAW — Myanmar’s military-backed parliament has approved a law allowing the death penalty for people who detain or violently force victims to work in online scam centres.
Union Parliament Speaker Aung Lin Dwe announced during a live television broadcast on Tuesday that lawmakers had passed the Anti-Online Scam Bill following a joint session of the upper and lower houses in Naypyidaw.
MP Aye Chan said the final version retained provisions allowing capital punishment for those who detain victims or use violence to force them to carry out online fraud. Lawmakers made few changes to the draft during discussions between the two chambers.
The draft published in May prescribed prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life, as well as the death penalty, for anyone who uses violence, torture, unlawful detention or cruel treatment to compel another person to commit online scams.
The death penalty must be imposed when such abuse results in a victim’s death, according to the legislation.
People convicted of operating online scam centres or carrying out cryptocurrency-related fraud may also face life imprisonment.
The legislation is the first passed by Myanmar’s new military-backed government, led by President Min Aung Hlaing, as the country faces the rapid expansion of scam compounds during its continuing civil war.
Myanmar has become a major base for Southeast Asia’s online fraud industry, including romance and cryptocurrency investment scams targeting victims around the world.
Although some workers enter the compounds voluntarily, many foreign nationals who have been repatriated say they were lured by fraudulent job offers or trafficked before being detained and forced to carry out scams.
The International Organization for Migration said trafficking into Asian scam centres is rising sharply, with victims from more than 80 countries subjected to threats, violence, sexual abuse and other forms of coercion.
Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to crack down on the industry amid mounting pressure from countries including China and the United States. However, rights groups and analysts have questioned the effectiveness of previous operations, with thousands of people reportedly still trapped in scam compounds near Myanmar’s border with Thailand.
China has also imposed severe punishments on criminal groups connected to Myanmar’s scam industry. In January, Chinese authorities executed 11 members of a crime syndicate linked to compounds in northern Myanmar after they were convicted of offences including fraud, unlawful detention and murder.
