Myanmar bill would allow death penalty for forced scam labor

Myanmar’s military government published a draft Anti-Online Scam Bill that would permit the death penalty for people who force others into online scam centers and impose life imprisonment for those who run such centers or commit crypto-related scam offenses. The draft also proposes a new committee to coordinate international cooperation on online scam operations. The legislation was released ahead of a scheduled session of the military-backed parliament in the first week of June.

The draft sets capital punishment for violence, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, or cruel treatment used to force someone to commit online scams. It prescribes life terms for operating scam compounds or carrying out crypto fraud.

The proposal follows reports of networks that traffic and coerce victims into fortified compounds in conflict-affected parts of Myanmar, where people are reportedly held and forced to run large-scale online fraud campaigns that target victims overseas, including crypto investment schemes.

In September 2025, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned entities linked to scam operations in Myanmar’s Shwe Kokko area and in Cambodia, citing debt bondage, violence and coercion. U.S. law enforcement data show $11.4 billion in cryptocurrency-related fraud losses in the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, with seniors accounting for $4.4 billion of those reported losses.

The draft would create a committee charged with coordinating cross-border investigations and cooperation to dismantle such operations. The text does not include details on how prosecutions would proceed, where cases would be tried, or how investigators would verify that victims were coerced. It also does not set out procedures for international law enforcement cooperation or protections for witnesses and trafficking survivors.

Military officials plan to present the bill to the military-controlled legislature when it convenes. The draft treats coercion as an aggravating factor that can trigger the harshest penalties.