15 November 2025
The National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) welcomes the recent increased international attention and actions taken against the harmful transnational criminal activity perpetrated from inside Myanmar. This statement follows the NUG’s 17 October 2023 Statement on Human Trafficking, Scams, Fraud and Transnational Crime, and the NUG (National Unity Government), KNPP (Karenni National Progressive Party), KNU (Karen National Union), CNF (Chin National Front), ABSDF (All Burma Student Democratic Front), NMSP – AD (New Mon State Party – Anti Military Dictatorship) and WLB (Women League Burma) 20 January 2025 joint statement on Cyber Crimes in Myanmar: A Growing Crisis.
These criminal scam activities are growing to a massive and dangerous scale. The scam syndicates operating primarily out of Southeast Asia defraud $65 billion per year from innocent people around the world. Sources indicate that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar may be held in situations where they are forced to carry out online scams.
The beneficiaries of the scam centers include the Myanmar junta, the Border Guard Forces under its military chain of command, its allied militia groups, and transnational criminal syndicates. The funds they steal fuel other criminal activities and the ongoing atrocities committed against the people of Myanmar. The victims of both the scams and human trafficking include an uncountable number of Myanmar citizens, and people from all corners of the world.
We appreciate the recent actions taken by our neighbors, regional partners, and other international actors. This includes the steps by Thailand and China to detain and prosecute leaders of scam syndicates—both from Myanmar and abroad. We note with thanks the recently announced activities of the United States Scam Center Strike Force and Department of the Treasury to sanction criminal organizations and seize assets.
Increased international efforts are required to crack down on these criminal organizations, targeting those at the highest levels, to put an end to their criminal activities, seize and return funds to victims, and repatriate trafficked persons with attention to their rights. This will additionally contribute to the conditions necessary for Myanmar to build the peaceful, federal democratic union and to the stability needed for the entire region.
The NUG continues our commitment to stamp out transnational crime in Myanmar and to work in coordination with national and international stakeholders, including our Ethnic Revolutionary Organization (ERO) and interim governance institution partners, international law enforcement, and others, to crack down on these crimes and support those most affected. The NUG’s taskforce on transnational crime and People’s Police Force are engaging in supporting roles. In addressing these challenges, the NUG welcomes international coordination with itself and with other national stakeholders who have demonstrated opposition to the military junta’s criminal enterprises. The NUG also pledges to work with the international community to ensure that justice prevails in returning stolen funds and cutting off illicit financial flows that Myanmar army has received in exchange for its role in the criminal activity.
National Unity Government