Cambodian authorities arrested two tycoons linked to the “pig-butchering” scam industry, prompting thousands of trafficked workers to flee scam compounds. Chen Zhi of Prince Group was extradited to China, while Ly Kuong faces fraud and money-laundering charges. The industry, which defrauded Americans of around $10bn in 2024, generates an estimated $19bn annually, about a third of Cambodia’s GDP. Freed workers, many forced into online scams and abused, sought repatriation at foreign embassies. Analysts caution that arrests of a few high-profile figures leave the broader network, including allegedly complicit officials, largely intact.
> Thousands of people from all corners of the globe have been left stranded and penniless after a mass exodus out of Cambodia’s notorious scam compounds, sparking what the human rights group Amnesty International has described as a humanitarian crisis that authorities are unwilling to deal with. Bedraggled Asians, Africans, South Americans, and Europeans wheeling suitcases have become a common sight in the provincial cities of Sihanoukville, Kampot, and Siem Reap, and in the capital Phnom Penh, where embassies have been overwhelmed by requests for help.
> The exodus began with a trickle after Chen Zhi, an alleged Chinese crime boss and the founder of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, was deported to China on January 6. But the floodgates opened nine days later when China offered leniency to fugitives and associates of Chen if they surrendered.
The Cambodian government is as useless as ever.
> “This mass exodus from scamming compounds has created a humanitarian crisis on the streets that is being ignored by the Cambodian government,” Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s regional research director, said, adding: “This is an international crisis on Cambodian soil.” In its latest report, Amnesty interviewed 35 survivors from an estimated 17 compounds “amid scenes of chaos and suffering,” people who had been traumatized and left to fend for themselves with no state support.
> They came from Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Kenya, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, and Madagascar. They told stories of rape, torture – one man had his throat slit while trying to escape, another had his finger chopped off – and dead bodies piling up.
> “I had been in the compound for 12 months, fearing for my life. But one day, several of us woke up and realized the compound managers had left the site and the security guards were gone. The doors and gates were left open and we walked out,” a survivor named Mehi told Amnesty.
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Cambodian authorities arrested two tycoons linked to the “pig-butchering” scam industry, prompting thousands of trafficked workers to flee scam compounds. Chen Zhi of Prince Group was extradited to China, while Ly Kuong faces fraud and money-laundering charges. The industry, which defrauded Americans of around $10bn in 2024, generates an estimated $19bn annually, about a third of Cambodia’s GDP. Freed workers, many forced into online scams and abused, sought repatriation at foreign embassies. Analysts caution that arrests of a few high-profile figures leave the broader network, including allegedly complicit officials, largely intact.
Good news of course, but it comes with [an unfortunate silver lining](https://thediplomat.com/2026/01/thousands-stranded-in-cambodia-after-fleeing-online-scamming-compounds/) for those with nowhere to go.
> Thousands of people from all corners of the globe have been left stranded and penniless after a mass exodus out of Cambodia’s notorious scam compounds, sparking what the human rights group Amnesty International has described as a humanitarian crisis that authorities are unwilling to deal with. Bedraggled Asians, Africans, South Americans, and Europeans wheeling suitcases have become a common sight in the provincial cities of Sihanoukville, Kampot, and Siem Reap, and in the capital Phnom Penh, where embassies have been overwhelmed by requests for help.
> The exodus began with a trickle after Chen Zhi, an alleged Chinese crime boss and the founder of Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group, was deported to China on January 6. But the floodgates opened nine days later when China offered leniency to fugitives and associates of Chen if they surrendered.
The Cambodian government is as useless as ever.
> “This mass exodus from scamming compounds has created a humanitarian crisis on the streets that is being ignored by the Cambodian government,” Montse Ferrer, Amnesty International’s regional research director, said, adding: “This is an international crisis on Cambodian soil.” In its latest report, Amnesty interviewed 35 survivors from an estimated 17 compounds “amid scenes of chaos and suffering,” people who had been traumatized and left to fend for themselves with no state support.
> They came from Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Kenya, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, and Madagascar. They told stories of rape, torture – one man had his throat slit while trying to escape, another had his finger chopped off – and dead bodies piling up.
> “I had been in the compound for 12 months, fearing for my life. But one day, several of us woke up and realized the compound managers had left the site and the security guards were gone. The doors and gates were left open and we walked out,” a survivor named Mehi told Amnesty.