The Central Supervisory Committee on Combatting Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling 1/2025 meeting was held yesterday afternoon at the Areindama Hall of the Myanmar Police Force Headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw and was attended by Central Committee Chairman and Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Tun Tun Naung, First Vice-Chairman and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe, central committee members, and the secretary and joint secretaries, while the chief ministers of the regions and states, as well as the commanders of the military commands, who are also members of the central committee, attended online.
The
central committee chairman stated that the Central Supervisory Committee on
Combatting Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling was formed on 10 December 2025 by
Order 52/2025 of the Office of the National Defence and Security Council as a
supervisory body serving as the main focal point for eradicating online fraud
in border areas, preventing its spread to the interior, and effectively
eliminating online fraud and gambling in line with the policy of the Head of
State, and that the Union Territory Committee and the Region or State
Committees on Combatting Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling will continue to be
formed.
He
explained that Myanmar is planning to establish a National Anti-Scam Centre in
the 2026-2027 financial year, and that the Cybersecurity Law, enacted on 1
January 2025 and in force since 30 July, together with the establishment of the
Central Supervisory Committee on Combatting Telecom Fraud and Online Gambling,
positions the country to implement its activities as a comprehensive
organization.
The
main responsibilities of the central committee are to formulate national-level
strategies, policies, and procedures for combatting online scams, coordinate
activities among the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of
Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Central Bank of Myanmar, the
Financial Intelligence Unit, and other relevant organizations, systematically
allocate and manage the necessary manpower, technology, and funds for
anti-fraud activities, collect, scrutinize, analyze, and disseminate
information on international and domestic online fraud networks to relevant
organizations, lead the investigation and prosecution of fraud perpetrators and
scam centres in accordance with the law, combat cross-border fraud in
cooperation with regional and international organizations such as INTERPOL and
ASEANAPOL, seize and control funds and assets obtained from fraud, and provide
timely education to the public on various forms of online scams, associated
risks, and preventive measures. The central committee will also implement the
following processes: accepting complaints from fraud victims and directing
relevant departments to assist, working with mobile operators and internet
service providers to block telephone numbers, websites, and accounts used for
fraud, developing and coordinating plans to rescue citizens and foreigners who
are forced to work or are trapped in scam centres, collaborating with
international organizations and embassies to safely repatriate rescued
individuals to their respective countries, and leading effective legal action
against fraud leaders involved in human trafficking and forced labour.
Action
was taken against those illegally entering Myanmar, including those involved in
telecom fraud and online gambling. From 5 October 2023 to 10 December 2025,
70,016 foreigners were identified in Shan and Kayin states and were transferred
back to their respective countries in line with procedures.
According
to the testimonies of foreigners who were rescued in Kayin State, they entered
Thailand by air and travelled from Bangkok to Mae Sot by car or plane, then
illegally crossed the Thaungyin River from Mae Sot to join companies in Myawady
Township, Kayin State, others arrived at Yangon International Airport in
Myanmar with a valid visa and travelled by car to Myawady Township to join
companies there. In percentage terms, 99.6 per cent crossed from Mae Sot, while
0.4 per cent travelled through domestic routes. Although the relevant embassies
have requested assistance by claiming that their citizens are victims of human
trafficking, investigations revealed that some of them are not trafficking
victims and are working for their own benefit.
The
central committee chairman emphasized that these crimes should be regarded as a
multi-sectoral business rather than one confined to Myanmar, noting that
Myanmar is neither the source nor the primary beneficiary despite being the
location of the scam centres, that not all trafficking victims are Myanmar
citizens, that not all proceeds enter Myanmar’s banking system, and that under
the United Nations Convention against Transnational Crime each country bears
responsibility for combatting all relevant elements and must fully play its
role in accordance with international crime-prevention standards to address the
problem. He said Myanmar has been able to locate and rescue victims of human
trafficking from conflict areas and is actively cooperating with relevant
embassies and organizations to ensure their safe return to their home
countries.
The
State will demolish and close 100 per cent of the buildings in the border areas
to prevent the resurgence of telecom fraud and online gambling, and it has been
found that the necessary building materials, appliances, consumer goods,
electricity, fuel, internet services, and other supplies for the buildings
constructed in these areas are being purchased and used through a bordering
country.
He
also stated that the personnel needed to operate scam centres are obtained
through human trafficking via illegal border routes, that illegal border trade
creates money-laundering channels for the scam centres and provides transportation
routes for trafficked persons, and that breaking these links requires a
coordinated approach combining anti-money laundering, border security, and
anti-human trafficking measures.
Central
Committee First Vice-Chairman and Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Than Swe
stated that combatting telecom fraud and online gambling is a national issue,
that the online money fraud emerging along the Myanmar border constitutes an
international crime and a source of domestic armed insurgency, and that it is
being decisively addressed. In some border areas of Myanmar where the rule of
law is absent, international criminal gangs and ethnic armed organizations are
collaborating, which can damage the country’s image, and such activities are
being firmly suppressed. The search, rescue, arrest, and extradition of more
than 70,000 foreigners from 54 countries involved in this business represents
the largest extradition operation in the world. Since crimes related to online
fraud and online gambling are international in nature, full international
cooperation is required.
Afterwards,
the first vice-chairman and central committee members presented and discussed
measures to prevent and suppress telecom fraud, online gambling, and related
crimes, after which the central committee chairman delivered a concluding
speech and adjourned the meeting.
MNA/TH
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