Over 1,200 foreigners were denied entry to Cambodia in the first six months of 2025, while the number of national and international travellers entering and exiting through Cambodia’s international checkpoints reached 3.6 million, a nearly 15 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024.
“The denials were all based on clear reasons. First, their purpose for entering our country was unclear. Some passports lack sufficient validity, their travel history is ambiguous, or they lack a travel record, which raised suspicion, leading us to deny their entry to Cambodia. There are also several other cases,” said Sok Veasna, director-general of the General Department of Immigration (GDI), explained in a broadcast interview on the department’s Facebook page on July 1.
Vasna also noted that crimes such as online scam, illegal residency and unauthorised employment by foreigners in Cambodia have significantly increased compared to 2024. In the first six months of this year, nearly 6,000 foreigners were deported from Cambodia for their involvement in these kinds of crimes.
“Cambodia, like any other country, does not support scam centres or provide a base for criminal activities. However, when such incidents occur, we must find ways to prevent, suppress, and curb them. We have deported nearly 6,000 individuals due to illegal entry, unauthorized residency, illegal border crossing into Cambodia and unauthorised employment.
“As our country shares borders with others, we are making great efforts to strictly control this, and the number of deportations has increased,” he said.
Additionally, the department has also denied exit from Cambodia in certain cases, such as when foreigners are still involved in legal proceedings in Cambodia, their travel intentions are suspicious or they have used forged documents.
In the same six months, over 5,000 Cambodian citizens were repatriated by foreign authorities, including nearly 200 Cambodian women who were victims of human trafficking in China.
“Cambodian citizens have also fallen victim to deception of human trafficking, particularly our women, with many cases reported. Among the 5,000 repatriated, at least around 180 were women, and this is only legal repatriation from one country, China, where authorities assisted in their rescue. These are only the most recent rescues, as there are other efforts ongoing, but those individuals have not yet returned to Cambodia,” Veasna said.
