Malaysia’s foreign minister Mohamad Hasan said the crisis is no longer a domestic problem for Myanmar, while Thai foreign ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura called for countries outside the regional bloc, including China, to lend a hand in resolving the issue.

In an exclusive interview with FMT on the sidelines of the Asean foreign ministers’ retreat here last month, Mohamad noted that Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the world’s largest opium producer.

“We cannot afford to have this kind of problem within the (Asean) family,” he said, adding that members countries must lend Myanmar their support in line with Asean’s focus on inclusivity and sustainability.

In 2021, the Myanmar military overthrew the country’s democratically-elected National League for Democracy government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The domestic unrest that followed has spiralled into a humanitarian crisis, with thousands, including Rohingyas, displaced. This has forced many into transnational crime.

Besides the drug trade, the United Nations reported in 2023 that at least 120,000 people may be trapped in “scam parks” in Myanmar, where victims of human trafficking rings are forced to scam others online.

Thailand and China, which share a border with Myanmar, are most badly affected.

Balankura told FMT that Thailand would welcome support from China in beefing up cybersecurity and tackling transnational crime.

Following the high-profile trafficking of a Chinese actor near the Thai-Myanmar border recently, Beijing has urged Asean to double down on efforts to crack down on transnational crime, particularly online gambling, fraud and human trafficking.

“We have discussed transnational crimes, including cybersecurity, cyber scams and related transnational issues,” Balankura said, referring to a series of meetings Thailand held in December with Myanmar, China and several other countries.

“We need help from every country involved, and we believe that this is a matter of regional concern.

“Our focus, as we look forward to the 2025 Malaysian chairmanship, is to work very closely with all Asean members to tackle these non-traditional challenges and collaborate on combating human trafficking, transnational crimes, drug trafficking, online scams, and so on,” Balankura added.

Regional response

The growth of the Asean digital economy has led more people to go online even when they do not have adequate skills or legal protection to keep them safe.

This, together with the Myanmar crisis, has led to more intensive efforts by member states to tackle transnational crime.

In response to the new threat, a working group on combating online scams was set up at the Asean digital ministers meeting in January.

The bloc is also working with external partners to shore up its cyber defences.

Asean secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn said the regional bloc has several ways to tackle rising crime in the region.

For instance, he told FMT, political, diplomatic and security matters are discussed at Asean forums. These include ministerial meetings on drug issues aimed at ensuring that the situation in Myanmar does not have a regional impact.

Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Shikata Noriyuki noted that his country is facing similar challenges.

Malaysia and Japan are among the countries most frequently targeted by cyber-attacks, particularly those carried out by state-sponsored actors.

“This is a common agenda that Japan and Malaysia can collaborate on,” he told FMT.

“We have been supporting Asean’s cybersecurity capacity-building efforts through our international aid organisation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, to help Asean countries cope with cyber-attacks and to improve their resilience against such attacks,” Noriyuki added.