Myanmar Passes Law Approving Death Penalty For Cyber Scammers

Myanmar’s military-backed parliament has approved legislation authorising capital punishment for individuals who detain or violently coerce victims into working at online scam centres, in what is being described as the first law passed by the country’s new civilian government.

The Anti-Online Scam Bill was adopted on Tuesday following a joint sitting of the lower and upper houses of the Union Parliament in the capital Naypyidaw, Union Parliament Speaker Aung Lin Dwe announced during a live television broadcast.

Lower house member of parliament Aye Chan confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the death sentence provision remained intact in the final approved version of the law.

“There were not many significant changes to the proposed draft bill after discussions between the lower house and upper house. The important parts of the bill remained the same,” Aye Chan said.

Draft legislation published in May outlined sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment, as well as capital punishment, for those found guilty of unlawful detention, torture, and violent coercion of scam centre workers and victims.

Myanmar has become a hub for transnational cyber fraud operations, with criminal networks running fortified compounds where thousands of trafficked individuals from across Asia have been forced to carry out online scams targeting victims in multiple countries.

Repatriated foreigners have reported being trafficked to the compounds and subjected to torture by scam centre operators.

The anti-scam law is the first legislation passed under the government of President Min Aung Hlaing, the former military junta chief who led the 2021 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered the country’s ongoing civil war.

He assumed the role of civilian president in April following elections that excluded Suu Kyi and her party.

The passage of the law comes amid growing regional pressure on Myanmar to dismantle cross-border cyber fraud networks operating from within its borders.