• Society

As Many as 422 Cambodian Students Want to Stay in Israel, Hun Manet Says

• By Meng Seavmey
• October 14, 2023 2:22 PM

PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Manet on Oct. 14 said that 422 Cambodian students who are currently in Israel have told the Cambodian authorities that they would like to stay at their current locations even though the government is prepared to move them to a safe one set up for them.

Their decision came after the Cambodian government had asked all Cambodians in Israel to go to a safe location that had been prepared for them following the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war. “Due to the changes in Gaza, the Cambodian government had ordered the relevant stakeholders to organize a safe room, located next to the border of Egypt that is nearly 300 kilometers from the fighting zone,” said Hun Manet in a voice message on Telegram.

“The government will arrange transportation for transferring them to the safe location with accommodation and food when the students have volunteered to go there,” he said. “They can inform the authorities by filling the online application for the transfer.”

As of Oct. 14, a total of 422 students had informed the authorities that they were willing to stay at their current locations in Israel. “They do not think that it is necessary yet for them to move to the safe location prepared by the Cambodian government,” Hun Manet said.

According to the prime minister, all Cambodian nationals are under the protection of the Israeli authorities at their accommodations and the farms at which they are interning. Several relevant stakeholders have also been following up on the situation of the Cambodian nationals and students in Israel.

The government will be keeping up with the situation in that country as protecting Cambodian nationals remain the government’s top priority, Hun Manet said. The prime minister, once again, called on the students to follow the instructions of the Israeli government to keep themselves safe and protected at their respective locations in Israel.

According to Hun Manet, as of Oct. 10, a total of 323 Cambodians had been relocated to a safe zone while the other 131 were still in the red zone. The ongoing war between the Israeli and Hamas armies has so far claimed the life of one Cambodian student on the first day of the conflict on Oct. 7.