PHNOM PENH: The Minister of Interior, Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng, has ordered the special immigration police force along the border to strengthen control over the entry and exit of foreigners, as well as the immediate deportation of any foreigners found to have entered the country without the required legal documents.
While speaking at the closing ceremony of the meeting to summarize the work results of 2021 and set the direction of the General Department of Immigration for 2022, held on Wednesday afternoon (6 April), DPM Sar Kheng affirmed that the Royal Government of Cambodia and the General Department of Immigration have successfully been carrying out the work of confiscating illegally-held documents from foreigners, so that illegal residence in Cambodia will not occur.
He stated, "Strict measures must be taken regularly and no one should be allowed to live illegally in Cambodia.” He further stressed that officials must not conspire with illegal immigrants and must equally apply the law to people of all nationalities. In addition, he advised all officials to not leave this problem to fester until it becomes even more difficult to solve.
He said, "Let the border authorities, police commissioner and police inspector adhere to this principle so that we know how many foreigners are living in our area legally, and if there is any illegal residence identified, it must be dealt with swiftly and in accordance with the established deportation measures and the procedures in force."
The DPM also expressed his happiness over foreigners receiving permanent residence permits in Cambodia, and said that there have been about 9,000 people who have come to renew the validity of their permits once they have expired, and about 7,000 people who have submitted requests for extensions of stay. At this time, he also emphasized that cases where anyone who has received a permanent residence permit but fails to renew it after its expiration date and continues to stay in Cambodia, will also be considered as illegal residence, so immediate action must be taken in response, including eviction.
According to a 2019 report from the Director General of the General Department of Immigration, General Kiet Chantharith, the Department has confiscated permits from 28,945 people (out of a total of 89,786 people), for holding irregular administrative documents. The 2019 report also states that the Ministry of Interior had issued permanent residence permits to 65,168 people over the age of 18, with around 19,561 renewal cards issued every two years. Of this number, 15,933 were renewed for the first time, 3,567 for the second time, 52 for the third time and nine for the fourth time.
