MADRID/BARCELONA: Thousands of people gathered in Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday as Catalonia prepared to declare independence, many dressed in white and calling for talks to defuse Spain’s worst political crisis for decades.
The wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia, with its own language and culture, has long claimed to be distinct from the rest of the country and on Sunday held a referendum on leaving Spain, a vote the constitutional court had banned.
The Catalan authorities say that a majority of those who voted supported a split from Spain, something Madrid says is illegal under the country’s 1978 constitution.
The political stand-off has divided the country, pushed banks and companies to move their headquarters outside Catalonia and shaken market confidence in the Spanish economy, prompting calls from the European Commission for Catalan and Spanish leaders to find a political solution.
“I’ve come because I feel very Spanish and makes me very sad what’s happened,” Rosa Borras, 47, an unemployed secretary who had joined a noisy gathering in central Madrid, said.
Borras, wearing a “Catalonia, we love you” sticker and surrounded by thousands waving Spanish flags, added: “I wanted to be here for unity, because I also feel very Catalan. My family lives in Catalonia.”
While Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has said he is open to mediation, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insists the region gives up the independence push, which grew in strength during a near-six year economic crisis, before he will sit down to talk.
Rajoy’s government mobilized thousands of national police to stop Sunday’s vote, leading to clashes with would-be voters as they tried to close polling stations in schools and remove ballot boxes.
The police violence drew widespread condemnation and forced the government to issue an apology on Friday, although tensions continued to rise after reports that plans for a unilateral declaration of independence will be handed to the Catalan parliament on Tuesday.
The crisis has also caused disquiet among Spain’s EU partners and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has discussed it with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, an EU official told Reuters.
Concern is growing in EU capitals about the negative impact of the crisis on the Spanish economy, the fourth largest in the euro zone, and on possible spillovers to other economies.
European finance ministers, gathering in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday for a regular meeting, could discuss the issue, although it is not formally on the agenda, EU officials said.
The support given in public statements by EU leaders to Rajoy is combined with concern expressed in private about how the Spanish government’s use of police to prevent Catalans from voting last week in an independence referendum could backfire.
Some EU states are worried that talk of Catalan independence could fuel secessionist feelings in other parts of Europe.
Spaniards take to streets as Catalonia independence tensions rise
Spaniards take to streets as Catalonia independence tensions rise
Thousands estimated to flee Cambodia scam centers after crackdown
- Hundreds of thousands have been forced to work in online scam hubs across parts of Southeast Asia
- New wave of releases come after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet pledged fresh crackdown
JAKARTA: Thousands of people are estimated to have been released from scam compounds across Cambodia over recent days, including more than 1,400 Indonesian nationals, who according to Indonesia’s Embassy in Phnom Penh have sought consular support to return home.
The online scam industry has flourished across parts of Southeast Asia in recent years, with hundreds of thousands of people forced to work in illicit operations in countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, according to a 2023 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A wave of foreign nationals released from scam centers in Cambodia have been seeking assistance from their embassies since last week, after Prime Minister Hun Manet pledged a fresh crackdown on the multibillion-dollar industry.
Jakarta’s mission in Phnom Penh said it has received reports from 1,440 Indonesian nationals since Friday.
“The number is quite huge, considering the Indonesian Embassy handled a total of 5,008 cases throughout 2025. Looking at the ongoing trend of law enforcement by local authorities, we expect that the flow of Indonesian nationals (seeking our assistance) will continue for some time,” the Indonesian Embassy said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
In an earlier release, the embassy said that some Indonesians traveled from provinces like Banteay Meanchey and Mondulkiri to reach the Cambodian capital, which would take them at least five hours by car.
“Following the arrest of a number of main perpetrators in various cities, many syndicate networks then disbanded and let their workers leave,” it said, while urging Indonesians to be more cautious.
“Don’t be easily tempted by unrealistic job offers abroad, promising high salaries with minimal requirements. Don’t get involved in online fraud operations abroad.”
Many trafficked foreign nationals were employed to run “romance” and cryptocurrency scams, often recruited to deceive strangers online into transferring large amounts of money.
Large queues of Chinese nationals have also been spotted in front of the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh this week, while Amnesty International has pointed to recent footage showing “the mass release and escape attempts from scamming compounds” across Cambodia.
In a statement issued on Friday, Amnesty said it had geolocated 15 videos and images, and reviewed social media posts that show people leaving, or having already left, multiple locations that have been confirmed as scamming compounds or identified as suspected sites for fraud operations.
“There are no official figures on the total number of scamming compounds in Cambodia, but for an Amnesty International investigation, our team visited 52 of 53 identified scamming compounds in 16 cities … a single scamming compound can employ thousands of workers,” Amnesty International Indonesia spokesperson Haeril Halim told Arab News.
He added that “many human rights violations” were found in the scamming compounds Amnesty investigated, including human trafficking, torture and other ill-treatment, forced labor, child labor, deprivation of liberty and slavery.
The recent releases of foreign nationals came after Chen Zhi, a Chinese-born Cambodian tycoon, was arrested and extradited to China earlier this month.
Chen was sanctioned by the UK and the US in October last year, with the US Department of Treasury accusing him of running “a transnational criminal empire through online investment scams targeting Americans and others worldwide.”
Estimates from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime show that scam victims worldwide lost between $18 billion and $37 billion in 2023.
