One of Cambodia’s most prominent journalists, Mech Dara has been at the forefront of investigating the country’s cyberscam compounds, which are staffed mostly by trafficked workers.
Often victims are lured by adverts promising easy work and extravagant perks. Once they arrive in the country, they are held prisoner and forced to work in online scam centres. Those who do not comply face threats to their safety. Many have been subject to torture and inhuman treatment.
Last year, Mr Blinken awarded Dara the US State Department’s human trafficking Hero Award, external for his work.
The US State Department said it was aware of reports of his arrest and was “following developments closely with great concern”.
The US last month sanctioned powerful Cambodian tycoon and ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat, nicknamed the “king of Koh Kong” after his influence over his home province, over alleged connections to the cyberscam industry.
The Cambodian government said the sanctions were politically motivated.
Rights groups have voiced concern over Mech Dara’s arrest.
Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said “Mech Dara is a respected journalist who has reported on important topics in the public interest such as online scam centres. Yet Cambodian authorities appear to have wrongfully arrested him yesterday.
“They should immediately release him.”
Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA), called Dara’s arrest “outrageous and unacceptable” and “is emblematic of the Cambodian government’s repressive, over the top reaction to any sort of criticism from the media”.
Cambodia’s independent media landscape has been hit hard in recent years, with publications including the Cambodia Daily and Voice of Democracy – both of which Dara worked for – closed down by authorities.
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