By Mata Press Service

Despite vast socio-economic and political differences, corruption remains one of the key challenges across Asia, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and its significant health and economic consequences.

In the latest Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) – Asia, citizens are well aware of the corruption across the region: 74 percent of the 20,000 survey participants believe that government corruption is a big problem in their country, and 1 out of 5 people who used public services in the previous 12 months paid a bribe.

As one of the largest surveys on corruption and bribery in the region, for the first time, the GCB-Asia sheds a light on vote-buying around elections, sextortion or the abuse of power to obtain a sexual benefit or advantage, and the use of personal connections in accessing public services such as health care or education.

Despite the economic and political pressure, the threats to freedom of expression and the fear of retaliation, an overwhelming majority of people believe that ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption.

This offers a glimmer of hope and a powerful tool in the hands of reform-minded governments, businesses and civil society.

Country-wise, India emerged as having the highest bribery rate of 39% in the Asian region and the highest rate of people (46%) who used personal connections to access public services, according to the released by Transparency International, a global civil society. Nearly 50% of those who paid bribes were asked to, while 32% of those who used personal connections said they would not receive the service otherwise.

Of the people surveyed in India, who came into contact with the police, 42% had paid bribes. The use of bribes was also rampant (41%) to obtain official documents such as identity papers. Use of personal connections was also largely made in dealings with the police (39%), procurement of identity documents (42%) and in relation to courts (38%).

Global highlights:

•The survey-report finds that three-quarters of respondents believe that government corruption is a big problem in their country, with nearly one in five people (19%) paying a bribe when accessing public services in the previous year. This is equivalent to about 836 million people.

• Nearly 38% of people surveyed think corruption increased in their country in the previous twelve months, while another 28% think it stayed the same. In Nepal and Thailand, a clear majority of citizens (58% and 55% respectively) think corruption increased. Conversely, a majority of citizens in China (64%), the Philippines (64%) and Cambodia (55%) think that corruption decreased, cites the report.

• Second to India with a bribery rate of 39%, was Cambodia at 37%, followed by Indonesia at 30%. The Maldives and Japan maintained the lowest overall bribery rate (2 percent), followed by South Korea (10 percent) and Nepal (12 percent). However, even in these countries, governments could do more to stop bribes for public services, states Transparency International.

• In addition to bribery, the use of personal connections to access public services is also prevalent across Asia. The results found that more than one in five people (22%) who accessed public services used their personal connections to receive the assistance they needed. India had the highest rate of citizens using personal connections to access a service, at 46%, followed by Indonesia at 36% and China at 32.%. Conversely, in Japan and Cambodia, a small minority of those who accessed public services used their personal connections, only 4% and 6% respectively.

•The results show most citizens (61%) think their government is doing a good job at addressing corruption risks. Myanmar has the highest percentage of citizens at 93% who think that the government is doing well in tackling corruption, followed by Bangladesh (87%) and the Philippines (85%). While Japan had the lowest bribery rate and the lowest percentage of people who used personal connections to access a service, 76% of citizens in Japan think their government is failing to fight corruption, followed by Thailand (73 percent), South Korea (55 percent) and the Maldives (53 percent). However, corruption contributes to the erosion of citizens’ trust in government. The results show that trust in government is lower than trust in the courts or the police across Asia. The majority of citizens in Thailand (71%), Japan (56%), the Maldives (55%), and India (51%) have little or no trust in government.

• The survey found corruption around elections is also prevalent. Nearly one in seven people were offered bribes in exchange for votes at a national, regional or local election in the past five years. While vote-buying was the highest in Thailand and the Philippines where 28% were offered a bribe in return for a vote, followed by Indonesia at 26%, India came fourth in the line with a rate of 18%.

• For the first time, the survey highlights data on sextortion – the abuse of power to obtain a sexual benefit in exchange for public services, like health care. The results show that the highest sextortion rate is in Indonesia, where 18% of people experience sextortion or know someone who has, followed by Sri Lanka and Thailand, with sextortion rates of 17% and 15% respectively. India’s rate was 11%.

• Across Asia, more than three out of four people (76%) are familiar with the anti-corruption agency in their country, of which, 63% think that the agency is doing a good job. The three national anti-corruption agencies with the highest approval ratings are Myanmar (94%), Bangladesh (86%) and Nepal (84%). India stood at 73%.

• In addition, people across Asia are hopeful about the future of anti-corruption. More than three in five (62%) think that ordinary people can make a difference in the fight against corruption. Unfortunately, nearly 54% of the people across the Asian region, feared retaliation if they reported corruption. Nearly 69% in South Korea and 63% in India and Bangladesh were particularly concerned about retaliation.

– with Agencies