Cambodian officials have promised to grant two-year residency cards to some Vietnamese immigrants currently facing deportation to Vietnam where they have no legal status either. Officials said on Monday that they plan to issue the short-term documents to people of Vietnamese origin who can prove they arrived in Cambodia before 2012. There will be an application process but most people are likely to pass, officials said, as cited by the Phnom Penh Post. Around 70,000 people of Vietnamese origin live in Cambodia, and most were born there after their parents and grandparents migrated during the war. A drive to revoke their Cambodian documents, which were deemed “improperly issued”, has rendered many of them stateless, as they have no Vietnamese citizenship either. Nouv Leakhena, deputy head of the Immigration Department at Cambodia’s Interior Ministry, said the government recognized that many ethnic Vietnamese have lived in Cambodia for up to 30 years, some since before the Khmer Rouge regime. “Immigration officials cannot be nationalistic,” he said, as cited in the report. People of Vietnamese origin who are granted residency may apply for citizenship after seven years. Cambodian immigration officials said they arrested and deported more than 1,880 illegal immigrants last year, the vast majority of whom were Vietnamese and Chinese. Cambodia’s move against the Vietnamese community has raised concerns from the Vietnamese government. Vietnam’s foreign ministry last November asked Cambodia to provide favorable conditions and guarantee legal rights for the community. Migrant rights experts also said Cambodia should offer more help. Lyma… [Read full story]
Cambodia's ethnic Vietnamese cross the border to go to school (06-09-2008) Ethnic Vietnamese primary school pupils living in Cambodia cross the border into Viet Nam to go to school. — VNS Photo Doan Tung by Le Hoang Vu AN GIANG — Schools in Khanh An Commune, An Phu District, An Giang Province are welcoming hundreds of new Vietnamese-Cambodian students from Kan Dal Province, Cambodia this academic year. The majority of the students hail from Pec Chay Commune, Koh Thum District, Cambodia, where many ethnic Vietnamese are living. Khanh An Commune's Primary School B has more than 600 Vietnamese-Cambodian students, according…... [read more]
Vietnam has asked Cambodia to provide favorable conditions and guarantee legal rights for ethnic Vietnamese living in the country after Cambodian authorities said they will revoke “improperly” issued official documents from 70,000 individuals, mostly ethnic Vietnamese born in Cambodia. “Vietnam and Cambodia have traditional neighborly relations," Le Thi Thu Hang, Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesperson, said in a statement Monday. "The ethnic Vietnamese community in Cambodia has had many contributions to the development of Cambodia and helped foster friendly ties between the two countries,” she said. Vietnam hopes Cambodia will “continue to provide favorable legal conditions and take appropriate measures to guarantee…... [read more]
Cambodian authorities are moving forward to revoke official documents from 70,000 individuals, mostly ethnic Vietnamese born in Cambodia, because the documents had been “improperly” issued and mistakenly confer citizenship on “immigrants”, The Phnompenh Post reported. “It is a national problem, not any specific person. Therefore, we need to solve this,” said Sar Khen, Minister of Interior. Most of the offenders were ethnic Vietnamese who had been born in Cambodia and have no other citizenship, said Sok Phal, head of the Immigration Department. “We don’t remove their citizenship, they are Vietnamese. We just take the Cambodian documents,” he added. Phal said the…... [read more]
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam-hong has reiterated his country's stance on ethnic Vietnamese migrants staying at makeshift camps in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian official made the comment at his meeting on Thursday with some members of the European Parliament and Marco Pannella, a representative of the Transnational Radical Party (TRP), who are visiting Cambodia to enquire into the situation of these migrants. For people wishing to resettle in a third country, Hor said, the Cambodian government requests the third country to accept them (ethnic migrants) so that they can leave Cambodia as soon as possible. For those who want to…... [read more]
Trawling in shallow waters is a crime that can carry prison time under Cambodia's fisheries law. Cambodian authorities announced on Tuesday that marine police have arrested 16 Vietnamese nationals for trawling in shallow Cambodian waters. The announcement said fisheries officials and local police in Tuek Chhou District, Kampot Province have seized three boats and detained 16 Vietnamese people accused of using illegal fishing methods, the The Cambodia Daily reported. According to Cambodian law, trawling in shallow waters (less than 20 meters deep) or using electrified nets, as many trawlers do, are crimes that carry prison time. Critics say the practice…... [read more]
