AKP Phnom Penh, June 25, 2026 —

ASEAN member states and key dialogue partners, including Japan, China, South Korea, and Australia, have pledged intensified joint action against transnational crime—with online scams as the primary target—following high-level talks that concluded Thursday in northwestern Cambodia.

H.E. Lt. Gen. Sok Veasna, Director General of Cambodia’s Immigration Department, announced that the 29th ASEAN Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Divisions of Ministries of Foreign Affairs Meeting (29th DGICM) produced a concrete consensus on cross-border cooperation. Officials committed to mutual support in combating human trafficking, drug smuggling, and cyber fraud, but singled out the surge in regional scam syndicates for immediate focus.

Two urgent pillars emerged from the talks: expanded human-resource training for enforcement personnel and a major boost in intelligence and information sharing among member states. The goal, H.E. Lt. Gen. Sok Veasna said, is to systematically dismantle the criminal networks fueling online fraud across Southeast Asia.

In a parallel move, the bloc endorsed Cambodia’s proposal to host a new ASEAN Immigration Training Centre. The Director General called the approval a “significant milestone” that elevates the Kingdom’s regional role in security cooperation.

The DGICM, established in 1996, has long served as a forum for secure travel facilitation and anti-immigration-offence coordination. This year’s meeting—the third hosted by Cambodia—closed with a unified pledge to turn shared commitments into operational results against the region’s fastest-growing criminal threat.

By K. Rithy Reak