PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian lawmakers on Monday unanimously adopted a new law targeting online scam operations with up to life in prison, following a government pledge to shut them down by the end of April.
All 112 members of parliament present voted to approve the legislation, which marks Cambodia’s first legal framework specifically aimed at a lucrative, illicit industry that has transformed the country into a global hub for cybercrime.
The scam operations typically involve bogus investment schemes and feigned romances that collectively extort tens of billions of dollars from victims around the world every year.
Justice Minister Keut Rith noted that thousands of people, especially from other Asian nations, are lured with fraudulent job offers and forced to work in scam centers in conditions of near-slavery,
Keut Rith told lawmakers that these crimes threaten public security and significantly damage Cambodia’s global reputation.
The legislation awaits review by the Senate and final approval by King Norodom Sihamoni.
Directing what’s described as a technology fraud site would carry five to 10 years in prison and fines reaching $250,000. For cases involving human trafficking, illegal confinement or violence, the prison term is 10 to 20 years.
If a worker dies, as is often associated with failed escape attempts, offenders face 15 to 30 years or even life imprisonment.
Senior Minister Chhay Sinarith, who leads the Commission for Combating Online Scams, recently announced that authorities have targeted 250 suspected locations since July, successfully shutting down 200.
He said the enforcement efforts resulted in 79 legal cases against nearly 700 ringleaders and associates. Over the same period, the government has repatriated nearly 10,000 scam center workers from 23 countries.
Experts are skeptical. Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center, pointed out in response to Chhay Sinarith’s remarks that past crackdowns often failed because they left financial and protection networks intact, allowing criminal operations to quickly start again.
FILE- Equipment used at a scam center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, file)
FILE - Equipment confiscated in a raid by Cambodian police are laid out on a table at a scam center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, file)
FILE - Bun Sosekha, Deputy Commissioner in charge of Security Unit, Phnom Penh Municipal Police, gives a tour of a scam center to journalists in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, file)
Passover is a major Jewish holiday, celebrated over the course of a week each spring. It commemorates the Exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible. It is celebrated around family dinner tables and at communal banquets, where the dramatic story of liberation from slavery is retold.
“Passover is the most observed Jewish holiday in America,” said Motti Seligson, director of public relations for Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish movement. “It’s not a synagogue holiday, although there are services in synagogues. The main parts of Passover are observed at home.”
This year, as in recent years, the celebrations occur amid a sober backdrop. There are anxieties over the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, widespread antisemitism marked by recent synagogue attacks, divisions within the Jewish community over Israeli policies and the raw aftermath of the Israel-Hamas war.
Passover — known as Pesach in Hebrew — begins at sunset on Wednesday, April 1. By tradition, it will be celebrated for seven days in Israel. In the rest of the world, some observe it for seven days, others for eight.
Observant Jews avoid various grains known as chametz, a reminder of how the biblical Israelites ate unleavened bread when they fled Egypt, with no time for dough to rise. Matzo — a crisp, unleavened bread — is OK to eat. Most breads, pastas, cereals, cakes and cookies are off-limits.
For many Jews, Passover is a time to reunite with family. They recount the Exodus from Egypt at a meal called the Seder. Participants use a Haggadah — a program for the Seder’s readings and rituals. Many families customize the Haggadah with supplemental songs and readings on a particular theme, or written by the participants themselves.
The Seder table is set with wine and various symbolic foods. For example, bitter herbs represent the experience of slavery; greens represent the coming of spring; and a shank bone represents the sacrifice made in biblical times.
Seders involve the active participation of children. They search for an afikomen — a hidden piece of matzo. The youngest child present asks ritual questions such as, “Why is this night different from any other night?”
Passover this year comes as war intensifies in the Middle East, with the United States and Israel heavily bombarding Iran and its proxies, which have struck back with attacks on Israel and U.S. bases in the region.
Antisemitism remains a concern with increasingly prominent voices on the right and left denouncing the U.S.-Israeli alliance, sometimes in language condemning not just Zionism but Jewish religious beliefs. An Anti-Defamation League report says colleges and universities have improved protections for Jewish students but also cited a persistence in anti-Jewish attitudes. Synagogues in Mississippi and Michigan were targeted by an arsonist and a gunman, respectively, in recent months. A Hanukkah celebration in Australia came under deadly attack in December.
While traditionally a home celebration, many congregations also hold larger Seders so that participants — especially those with few family connections or who are unable to prepare the meal — can have a place to celebrate with others.
Many Jewish community, cultural and campus centers host Passover gatherings. Some participants go to both communal and home Seders on different nights.
Some hotels are offering Seders in kosher settings at travel destinations. Chabad plans to host thousands of people at communal Seders in Thailand, Nepal and other countries popular with travelers.
Regardless of the setting, the Seder ritual aims to involve participants directly in the biblical story. “Tradition teaches us that in every generation, we ought to look upon ourselves as if we personally had gone out of Egypt,” says one version of the Haggadah. “Therefore, it is our duty to thank the One who performed all the miracles for generations past and present.”
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
FILE - A child is transported on a dolly in the Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem during final preparations for the Passover holiday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
FILE - Cantor Ruth Berman Harris, left, who leads the congregation in lieu of a full-time rabbi, lights candles to celebrate Seder with congregants of the 104-year-old Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center which burned down in the Jan. 2025 Eaton fire, gathered for a Passover at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, Calif. on Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
