Population and censuses

Foreigners will again be allowed to be self-employed in a bid to attract skills and investment to the Kingdom, after a ban on them running small businesses that could affect the livelihoods of Cambodians was proposed in August. An announcement by the Ministry of Labour ...

Tens of thousands of Chinese nationals are reportedly leaving the Kingdom following a government ban on online gambling intended to reduce the number of crimes committed by foreigners. On August 18, Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive banning all online and arcade gambling in the ...

Provisional census figures released on Wednesday show that as of March 3, Cambodia’s population stood at 15,288,489 people – 7,869,912 women and 7,418,577 men – a 14.1 per cent increase since the previous census 11 years ago. Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, who is also ...

The General Department of Immigration has requested the Ministry of Interior to close down several border checkpoints and add new facilities to issue border permits to prevent migrant workers from crossing illegally and to stop smuggling. The request followed a meeting on border checkpoints and ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday justified the need for Chinese workers in the Kingdom by saying that local workers still lack expertise. Mr Hun Sen, during his inspection visit to Morodok Techo National Stadium, said Chinese nationals working in the Kingdom are permitted for employment and ...

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng has instructed owners of residences throughout the Kingdom to report the presence of all foreign tenants. In a letter dated Friday, Sar Kheng said the ministry had noticed that many residence owners had failed to duly ...

The Ministry of Interior on Wednesday released a report saying it had issued more than 70,000 immigrants with permanent residence cards in Cambodia since 1994 – the year the Kingdom first adopted the Law on Immigration. ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Saturday encouraged people to have five children per family so the Kingdom’s population can double to more than 32 million. He said the recent census found that Cambodia has a population of 15.2 million, but the country is large ...

As 179 countries across the globe celebrated World Population Day on Thursday, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the government’s commitment to achieving the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. He also acknowledged that Cambodia still faced some major challenges. The 30th World Population Day marked the 25th ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng identified strengthening security, restoring infrastructure, inspection of building standards, preventing sewage emissions into the sea and solving land disputes as key ongoing issues in Preah Sihanouk province. ...

A steady climb in the number of Chinese nationals moving to Cambodia’s Sihanoukville over the last two years has driven up housing costs in the southwestern coastal province, leaving many Cambodian workers struggling to make ends meet while property owners profit from the increase in ...

The Thai government is set to provide free education for children of Cambodian migrant workers, according to officials. Sompong Sravaen, founder and director of Thailand’s Labour Rights Network Foundation, on Monday said that a new government policy in Thailand will provide free education to children ...

A dozen Cambodian migrant workers suspected of cutting down trees in a Thai protected forest were arrested on Sunday by military police at a rubber plantation in Thailand’s Nakhon Reachasima province. According to a report by the Bangkok Post, Thai military police conducted a raid ...

Cambodia’s first Civil Society Day was held on Tuesday, with at least 300 members of civil society groups in attendance at Phnom Penh’s Hotel Cambodiana for the event. Held under the theme Inclusive Partnership for Democratic and Sustainable Development, the day is intended to enable ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on Cambodians to take part in the national census by providing accurate information to officers in order to obtain correct national statistics for the Kingdom’s development. And as if to prove his point, the prime minister also gave an ...

As the Kingdom anticipates population growth to reach 20 million by 2030, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday predicted that most citizens will eventually gravitate towards urban areas. According to Mr Hun Sen during a speech in Phnom Penh, the population of Cambodia could even potentially ...

The Office of the UN Resident Coordinator expressed concern on Thursday that some migrants working in Thailand are not enrolled in public health insurance schemes and that their children are unable to attend school. The Thailand Migration Report 2019 estimates that the country currently hosts ...

Seventeen families from Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, who claim they have lived in the area for two decades and are Cambodian by birth, protested against district authorities on Wednesday for designating them as Vietnamese immigrants. The families, from Chak Angre Krom commune’s Tuol Roka village, ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Wednesday said there are still thousands of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand who have not received the full legitimate rights that could protect them from abuses. This, he said was despite the two countries having laid out procedures and ...

Kampong Chhnang provincial authorities are planning to relocate hundreds of Cham and Vietnamese residents living on the Tonle Sap river to dry land by the end of 2019. Provincial Governor Chhour Chandoeun on Thursday said that residents have already been informed regarding the decision. ...

The number of foreigners issued with Cambodian work permits this year has more than doubled that of last year. The increase was driven by Chinese workers whose contribution alone could generate millions for the Kingdom’s economy each year. ...

The Ministry of Planning said on Thursday that the government has earmarked $8 million for the general census to be conducted next year. Funding will come entirely from the national budget, with China and the United Nations Population Fund Cambodia (UNFPA) providing equipment and technical ...

A senior Interior Ministry official has urged police to take tough action against Chinese nationals committing crimes in the Kingdom. Speaking during a meeting with police officials yesterday, General Sok Phal, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, said that immigration police had ...

With the spike in crimes following a huge influx of Chinese nationals, Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday assigned four main units under the ministry to set up a support team to restore security in Preah Sihanouk province. ...