PHNOM PENH – The jury may still be out on Cambodia’s crackdown on scam centres, but a new problem has emerged.

The shutdown of these centres has left thousands of foreigners without jobs or shelter, and unable to return to their home countries without passport or money.

Analysts warn that these people could end up being recruited back into new scam centres, become a source of social disorder, or even trigger a humanitarian crisis.

In the last two months, hardly a week has gone by without news reports about the Cambodian authorities flushing out scam operations. In early March, Prime Minister Hun Manet vowed to shut all scam centres in the country by the end of April to restore tourist and investor confidence.

Besides the capital Phnom Penh, other scam hot spots include border areas with Thailand, such as O’Smach town and Poipet city in north-western Cambodia, as well as border cities with Vietnam, including Bavet and Kampot in the south.

On a recent weekday in April, about 70 men were seen milling around a park opposite the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh. At night, many slept on straw mats on a nearby pavement outside shops that had shuttered for the day.

Mr Marco Lem, 28, told The Straits Times that he has been sleeping on the street outside the Indonesian embassy for the last two months while seeking help to obtain a passport and return to Jakarta. The father of two claimed that he was lured to work in a casino but was subsequently led to the infamous Sihanoukville and forced to scam people.

Sihanoukville, a coastal port city in south-western Cambodi...