September edition
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‘We kept waiting for our child’: Kidnapping reports rise in Rohingya refugee camps
Militant groups claiming to defend Rohingya rights are increasingly accused of kidnapping for ransom schemes. One family spoke of their 5-year-old disappearing in June. They collected hundreds of thousands of taka to pay as much of the ransom as they could. His body was found days later.
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Vietnam’s Gen Z protests mark the emergence of its new left
For the first time since the Internet opened civilians to new ideas outside the government’s scope, a new independent leftist movement is taking root among Vietnamese youth.
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Despite obstacles, Facebook is one of the only choices for Vietnamese people to pursue justice
Facebook remains the main way for Vietnamese victims of injustices and activists at home or in exile to air their grievances and fight for justice, despite increasing risks from government censorship and Meta’s failure to protect its users.
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Workers left listless after constant crackdowns slow Sihanoukville businesses
Cambodian workers in Sihanoukville say that the current crackdown has repercussions stretching far beyond the previous waves of the scam industry.
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Rise and fall: Cambodia scam hotspots through 2026
Cambodia’s criminal scam industry saw upheaval in 2026 as major compounds emptied out in a public crackdown. This page collects Mekong Independent’s ongoing reports from these scam hotspots — how they rose, what has happened to them, and the accounts of violence and corruption that continue to emerge.
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Anxieties remain despite Cambodia land scam verdict
A Phnom Penh court has ordered land fraud Piphup Deimeas to repay $33.5 million to 1,115 families. But three years on from the owner’s initial arrest, the indebted families remain wary as their struggles deepen.
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Satellite captures pockets of ongoing destruction in carbon-credit zones
An analysis of six REDD+ projects found continued tree-cover loss in several conservation areas, with critics questioning how carbon savings are measured — especially as the state approves infrastructure projects inside protected forests.
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On 9th anniversary, Rohingya genocide survivors remember those who didn’t make it
Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees gathered across Cox’s Bazar to mark the day Myanmar’s military launched a brutal crackdown against them. Nine years later, survivors carry the memories of those who never reached Bangladesh.
August updates
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Scam briefs: Province downplays economic impact of crackdowns
Only people involved in the “gray economy” are impacted by crackdowns on Cambodia’s online scam industry, a deputy provincial governor said as officials continue raids under their heavily promoted campaign against online fraud operations.
Around the region
August edition
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US immigration raids spark statelessness crisis in Mekong countries
U.S. deportations to Mekong countries have skyrocketed in the second Trump administration. Countries such as Laos are dealing with an unprecedented influx, and many former refugees arrive in the region stateless and without support.
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Threats, social pressures prevent Rohingya girls from finishing school
Girls’ school enrollment in Cox’s Bazar falls steeply when they turn 15, leaving communities to address the harassment and community pressure keeping them out.
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Floating houses stuck aground as climate change takes hold
Cambodia’s monsoon is weakening, and dams are siphoning water away, researchers say. Residents who fish the Tonle Sap lake’s floodwaters are struggling to survive.
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Three other bodies were found on Bokor in week of Korean student death
A year ago, the dead body of a Korean student was found on Cambodia’s Bokor mountain, sparking rare international attention. But three other corpses were also found on Bokor the same week with little publicity.
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Mountains of sand abandoned in Prince resort at Ream
The arrest of Chen Zhi, chairman of Prince Group, put Sihanoukville’s 800-hectare Bay of Lights landfill project on pause. Since then, security guards were let go from their jobs, and sand-carrying boats floated off towards other projects.
July updates
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Briefs: Banteay Meanchey scam raids continue
Authorities raided new locations around Cambodia’s Poipet city in July, while the national bank ordered the liquidation of a Malaysia-linked payment service.
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Another landslide in Rohingya camp buries girls’ school, kills 8
Seven students and a teacher were killed in the Cox’s Bazar Rohingya refugee camp when a landslide collapsed a school.
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Landslides kill at least 8 Rohingya refugees, destroy hundreds of shelters
After two days of relentless monsoon rain, Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar have once again been devastated by deadly landslides and flooding, leaving families mourning loved ones while hundreds of shelters have been destroyed.
Around the region
July edition
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Yet another fatal traffic accident leaves workers wondering what’s next
Thousands of garment workers are injured every year traveling to and from work, and some dozens, sometimes hundreds, die on the roads. On May 23, Cambodia was shocked by two fatal garment truck crashes on the same morning.
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Rohingya learning centers struggle amid aid cuts, no recognition in Bangladesh
Schoolchildren without textbooks, teachers without markers, and high schoolers graduating without a diploma. Stateless in Bangladesh camps, a generation of young Rohingya refugees are struggling to see a way forward.
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Social acceptance outpaces legal rights for Laos queer community
Laos’s capital is quite open when it comes to gender fluidity and diversity. While not technically codified in law, you won’t see many people blink twice at gay or lesbian couples out on the streets, and many more people are accepted to express themselves in public spaces.
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Tracing a $61,000 crypto scam from Sweden to Cambodia’s Huione network
A Swedish hospital worker lost $61,817 to a crypto investment scam. Blockchain forensics traced the flow of funds into the ecosystem of an alleged Cambodia-based money-laundering empire.
Scam-site profiles
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My Casino, Kampot: Tycoon, 50 officers in jail over scams at rural casino
Only one Cambodian tycoon is in jail after months of the country’s scam crackdown. But 50 police and military police officers have also been arrested in Li Kuong’s case — for allegedly stealing from his rural Kampot compound.
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Kep: Authorities are hunting for the suspects behind Chinese man’s murder
Kep, the country’s smallest province, a largely tourism- and fishing-oriented coastal area, was not part of the scam boom. But as scam operations scattered amid raids elsewhere, some began to arrive.
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In northwest Cambodia’s Battambang, the rare limestone mountains of Phnom Romsay Sok have become a symbol of recovery, where bats that once disappeared are now returning through community efforts. But conservationists say there’s more to do across the country. Read as text