News

As Cambodian migrant workers return in droves from Thailand through the casino-laden border town of Poipet, Prime Minister Hun Sen is warning gambling parlour owners this does not mean a jackpot for them. “Casinos in Phnom Penh and along the border are not for Khmer citizens,” ...

Detainees and prisoners continue to be administered electric shocks, beaten unconscious and even smothered by plastic bags, with 49 new allegations of torture or abuse at the hands of authorities this year, according to rights group Licadho, which says in a report released Wednesday that ...

Council of Ministers secretary of state Keo Remy wants to see female police officers controlling female protesters at future demonstrations, he said at a press conference on Friday. Mr. Remy said female protesters have adopted a new “style” of demonstration under the direction of NGOs who ...

The Ministry of Interior yesterday reminded Cambodians of their obligation to obtain new or replacement national ID cards, a common piece of documentation required for people over 15 years of age and the validity of which had previously been extended to accommodate last year’s national ...

The Cambodian government said Thursday it will not allow Vietnamese living in the country to protest Chinese incursions in the South China Sea. Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said Cambodia does not allow any foreigners to protest other nationalities. The spokesman made the statement ...

The governors of Preah Sihanouk, Ratanakkiri and Pursat provinces have been replaced by Royal Decree, according to officials, with the first of the transfer ceremonies being carried out Thursday morning. Sborng Sarath, the governor of Preah Sihanouk province, was replaced Thursday by Chhit Sokhom, the former ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday said that up to a quarter of a million ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia could be granted full citizenship rights via the Nationality Law if his Cambodia National Rescue Party were to come to power. The CNRP president has sought in ...

Cambodian land advocates face some of the most threatening and deadly working conditions in the world, according to a new report by UK-based environmental watchdog Global Witness. Since 2002, 908 reported killings linked to land activism have occurred across 35 countries – with 13 taking place ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday urged Cambodians to keep safe as they celebrate Khmer New Year this weekend and instructed law enforcement officers to be vigilant during a period renowned for causing an annual spike in traffic accidents. Speaking at a graduation ceremony on Koh ...

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday confirmed that Cambodia was in talks with his government to take in some of the refugees trying to reach his country’s shores, according to Australian media. Mr. Abbott’s statement was the first official admission from his administration that Australia ...

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said yesterday that the government will not let opposition leader Sam Rainsy dodge a government ban on public gatherings by holding mass demonstrations during the campaign period before the May 18 district, provincial and city council elections. ...

The Cambodian government says it has no plans so far to carry out a lawsuit against the opposition for damages from violent demonstrations in January. The Ministry of Interior has released a report, claiming $72 million in public and private damages, including to 95 different factories, ...

A government committee charged with assessing damage from the garment worker protests in December and January has put the value of the destruction at over $250,000. It places blame squarely on the opposition CNRP and a trio of union leaders. That committee’s report, released Thursday, ...

A lack of identification papers is the key obstacle preventing ethnic Vietnamese living in Kompong Chhnang province from enjoying the same rights as Khmer citizens, according to a survey released Tuesday. In the new report, the Minority Rights Organization (MIRO) found that ethnic Vietnamese are often ...

Government officials have got to work parsing a controversial request that Cambodia, one of the poorest countries in the region with a spotty record handling refugees, take some of Australia’s asylum seekers. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop made the request to Prime Minister Hun Sen ...

Some 200 ethnic Kuoy minority villagers in Preah Vihear’s Chheb district blocked tractors belonging to a Chinese company from bulldozing their rice crops yesterday, the same day that district authorities received a letter from the Interior Ministry instructing them to broker an agreement between villagers ...

One year ago today, ex-Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith smiled as he sat before a judge at the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh on the first day of his trial for shooting and badly injuring three unarmed garment workers at a protest in Prey Veng ...

Cambodia saw a dramatic increase in the number of tourist deaths in the past year, an annual report released by the Ministry of Interior (MoI) has revealed. Twenty-one foreign visitors died in 2013, up from 14 deaths the year prior to that, a 50 per cent ...

Cambodia said Thursday that Thai soldiers shot and killed 69 Cambodians who were claimed to illegally cross the border between the two countries last year, up from 45 a year earlier. ...

Although human-trafficking cases dealt with by the Ministry of Interior decreased significantly in 2013, suggesting progress was being made in tackling the crime, trafficking in persons continues to be a major challenge for the government, the ministry said in its annual report on Tuesday. According to ...

Sixty-nine Cambodians were shot dead by Thai soldiers while crossing the border illegally last year, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said on Tuesday at the launch of its annual report. “Cambodians were shot dead by Thai soldiers in 55 [incidents] last year in which ...

The total number of serious and minor crimes in Cambodia increased by 1 percent, or 27 cases, in 2013 compared to the previous year, while Phnom Penh’s crime rate rose by 62 percent, a report released by the Interior Ministry on Tuesday says—laying the blame ...

High-ranking government officials expounded on the detrimental effect political and labour demonstrations are having on Cambodia’s security during an annual meeting of police officials yesterday. In a speech to about 500 police in leadership positions, Interior Minister Sar Kheng said demonstrations, which have exploded since July’s ...

In case the 29 officers Prime Minister Hun Sen promoted on January 30 to four-star general were not enough, six Interior Ministry police chiefs were also promoted to the same top rank late last month. A January 22 royal decree, obtained Wednesday, elevated the six lieutenant ...