JAKARTA: More Citizens are seeking work in Cambodia’s virtual gaming industry, amid a six-fold increase in the number of people reporting to Indonesia’s official in its Indo-China ally.  ,
According to statistics from Indonesia’s foreign ministry, the number of Indonesians who voluntarily register with its embassy in Cambodia increased by 638 % in 2023 compared to the same period three years earlier.
According to a mature Indonesian official, the majority of these cases are connected to Indonesians who are alleged to be involved in online scams and gaming activities.  ,
” Based on self-report data at the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh, 2, 332 Indonesians registered ( with the Indonesian embassy in Cambodia ) in 2020. Director of Indonesian Citizen Protection Judha Nugraha addressed the media at a press conference in Jakarta on Monday ( Dec 16 ).” This number jumped to 17, 212 in 2023.
The Indonesian Citizen Protection is an organization within Indonesia’s foreign government.  ,
But Judha, yet, said that there is also a big unidentified range of Indonesians in Cambodia. He told the media that official data indicate that 123, 000 Citizens had entered Cambodia by September this year, a 32 % increase over the same period in 2023. Of this, 89, 000 of them hold property allows in the country, according to Cambodia’s immigration files.  ,
The Jakarta Globe quoted a foreign affairs official as saying,” There is a significant gap between Cambodia’s immigration information, which shows 89, 000 Citizens with residence mandates, and the information that we have,” adding that only 17, 212 of them had registered with the Indonesian ambassador in Cambodia.  ,
According to Judha, there is a growing trend of Indonesian citizens freely looking for work in the online gambling sector, especially in Cambodia, because these companies provide lucrative employment to Indonesians handling online scams.  ,
He was quoted by Kompas as saying,” We see a pattern whereby the online scam market is normalized as a new form of livelihood.  ,
The Indonesian established has not spoken about the issue of his people working in Cambodia’s online gambling industry for the first time.  ,
Judha made the case in October that the majority of Indian citizens would willingly choose to work for these Cambodian online gambling companies. Thus, they may become regarded as victims of job scams, Tempo had reported then.  ,
Coordinating Minister for Women’s Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar, who in November reported seeing first-hand Indian people working in Cambodian online gaming companies, brought up the issue of Indonesian people ‘ employment.  ,
” Regarding Cambodia, I have seen it myself, so I checked it out there, there are around 100, 000 Indonesians who work in Cambodia”, he was quoted as saying by Kompas.  ,
However, according to a media release from the Malaysian state on November 21 that the country is working to return its people who have been forced to work as online gaming administrators worldwide, as confirmed by Deputy Minister for Protection of Migrant Workers Dzulfikar Ahmadi Tawalla.  ,
He assured the media that his ministry has been closely coordinating with the police and the foreign ministries of the destination countries to address the issue, adding that” the majority of the reports came ( from ) Cambodia and Myanmar.  ,
Dzulfikar added that Indonesian citizens who work in online gambling-related jobs abroad typically left the country illegally, with the government only finding out about their cases when they sought assistance.