JAKARTA - The number of Indonesian citizens (WNI) who are ex-online scam syndicates in Cambodia who have returned to the country has increased in the last week, the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh said in a statement on Sunday.
The embassy said that between February 16-22, 2026, there were 462 Indonesian citizens who returned home by buying tickets independently after previously receiving various facilities from the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh.
"The most return was on February 22, 2026 with a total of 131 Indonesian citizens," the Indonesian Embassy said in a statement quoted on Sunday (22/2).
About a third of the previously problematic Indonesian citizens were in temporary shelters facilitated by the Indonesian Embassy and Cambodian authorities. Some of the returning Indonesian citizens were given temporary travel documents (SPLP) because they did not have passports. Almost all of them were helped by the Indonesian Embassy to apply for immigration fines from the Cambodian authorities.
Upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the Indonesian citizens underwent an examination by a joint team, including law enforcement officers.
This is to complement the early assessment that has been carried out by the Indonesian Embassy, especially regarding the level of involvement of each Indonesian citizen in online fraud syndicates.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia Santo Darmosumarto met with the Cambodian Minister of the Interior Sar Sokha on February 19, 2026. During the meeting, both parties discussed increasing cooperation in eradicating transnational crimes, including online fraud networks, as well as strengthening the protection mechanism for Indonesian citizens.
The total number of KBRI Phnom Penh has facilitated the return of 692 Indonesian citizens to their homeland since January 30 to February 22, 2026.
In addition, it is predicted that many Indonesian citizens have returned to their country, but have not reported their return to the Indonesian Embassy.
Since the spike in cases from January 16, 2026 to February 22, 2026, the number of Indonesian citizens who reported directly to the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh reached 4,725 people. This number is 92 percent of the total cases throughout 2025, which was recorded as 5,088 Indonesian citizens. This shows the high spike in Indonesian cases handled by the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh at the beginning of 2026.
The Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh estimates that the number of repatriation applications will continue to increase ahead of Eid al-Fitr 1447 H, as more SPLPs are issued and fines are approved in the coming weeks.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
