Foreign Criminals Remain Stuck in Cambodia
Some countries are refusing to take back their nationals who enter Cambodia illegally or have been arrested for crimes, Interior Minister Sar Kheng says. Photo from Facebook
- By Mao Sopha
- and Phoung Vantha
- March 10, 2022 4:40 PM
Some countries block repatriation: Sar Kheng
PHNOM PENH--Some countries are refusing to take back their nationals who enter Cambodia illegally or have been arrested for crimes, Interior Minister Sar Kheng says.
Speaking during the review of Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration working results of 2021 and its plans for 2022, he said these cases were difficult and the authorities were trying to deal with them.
Interior Ministry Secretary-General Por Pheak said last month that Vietnam refuses to take back its immigrants.
A report from the Cambodian-Vietnamese Association in Cambodia, cited by Vietnam's VNEXPRESS news in late 2021, said about 30,000 Vietnamese were living in Phnom Penh alone.
Sar Kheng praised and thanked the Chinese government for always accepting its nationals whenever Cambodian authorities deported them.
He said it would be hard for Cambodia to find a place for these people if the Chinese government refused to accept them.
Keo Vanthan, deputy director-general of the General Department of Immigration at the ministry said that as of March 9, 246 foreigners of 19 nationalities, including 28 women, were waiting to be evicted.
He said that in the first three months of 2022, the department deported 313 foreigners, including 66 women, of 15 nationalities.
“We will continue to carry out deportations of foreigners in detention in accordance with the Ministry of Interior's order,” he said.
